Psalm 104:24-35

²⁴ How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and small.
²⁶ There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷ All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
³⁰ When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works-
³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵ But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.

---

Joel 2:18-29

The Lord's Answer

¹⁸ Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people.

¹⁹ The Lord replied to them:
"I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.

²⁰ "I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise." Surely he has done great things!

²¹ Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things!

²² Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.

²³ Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

²⁴ The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵ "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm- my great army that I sent among you.

²⁶ You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.

²⁷ Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

The Day of the Lord
²⁸ "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

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1 Corinthians 12:4-11

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Psalm 104:24-35

²⁴ How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and small.
²⁶ There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷ All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
³⁰ When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works-
³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵ But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.

---

Genesis 11:1-9

The Tower of Babel

¹ Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." ⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel-because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

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1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Unity and Diversity in the Body

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body-whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Psalm 104:24-35

²⁴ How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and small.
²⁶ There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷ All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
³⁰ When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works-
³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵ But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Praise the Lord.

---

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The Valley of Dry Bones

¹ The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
I said, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know." ⁴ Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.


⁹ Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"

---

John 20:19-23

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
²¹ Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

¹ Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
³ The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

---

Isaiah 1:1-4

¹ The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

A Rebellious Nation
² Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
³ The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
⁴ Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

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Isaiah 1:16-20

¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
¹⁸ "Come now, let us settle the matter," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
²⁰ but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

---

Romans 8:1-8

Life Through the Spirit

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

¹ Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
³ The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

---

Isaiah 2:1-5

¹ This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
² In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
³ Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
⁵ Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

---

Romans 8:9-11

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

¹ Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
³ The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

---

Isaiah 5:15-24

¹⁵ So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.
¹⁶ But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.
¹⁷ Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.
¹⁸ Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
¹⁹ to those who say, "Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel-let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it."

²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
²² Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.
²⁴ Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

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John 15:18-20

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸ "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

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John 15:26-27

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶ "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father-the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father-he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

¹ Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
³ The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
¹¹ The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

---

Isaiah 6:1-8

Isaiah's Commission

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
⁵ "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

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Romans 8:12-17

¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation-but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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John 3:1-17

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

¹ Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him."
³ Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."


⁴ "How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!"
⁵ Jesus answered,"Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

⁹ "How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. ¹⁰"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man. ¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.