"Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in My people;

the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food.

They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain."

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Who of you by worring can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes?

See how the flowers of the field grow.

They do not labor or spin.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,

and all these things will be given to you as well.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made;

without Him nothing was made that has been made;

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him,

the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.

Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God-

children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will,

but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory,

the glory of the One and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

"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.

For God did not send His Son into the world

to condemn the world,

but to save the world through Him.

Whoever believes in Him is not condemned,

but whoever does not believe stands condemned already

because He has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world,

but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light

for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light

so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.

In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.

You know the way to the place where I am going."

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we don't know where You are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him,

he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers;

such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish,

and it will be given you.

This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit,

showing yourselves to be My disciples.

"As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.

Now remain in My love.

If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love,

just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love.

I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,

but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains,

but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,

but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil

but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,

always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Your attitude should be the same

as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable

--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from Me, or seen in Me-put it into practice.

And the God of peace will be with you.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command,

so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man,

when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away.

For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

And without faith it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Whoever does not love does not know God,

because God is love.

This is how God showed His love among us:

He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.

This is love: not that we loved God,

but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, since God so loved us,

we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another,

God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,

for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"now the dwelling of God is with men,

and He will live with them. They will be His people,

and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,

for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said,

"I am making everything new!"

I lift up my eyes to You, to You whose throne is in heaven.

Our eyes look to the LORD our God, till He shows us His mercy.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:

while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by His blood,

how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him!

Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,

we too may live a new life.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,

continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him,

strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people.

Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.

"Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your Savior comes!

See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him.'"

They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD;

And you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.

"A voice of one calling in the desert,

'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.

Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.

And all mankind will see God's salvation.'"

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David

(As He said through His holy prophets of long ago),

Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-

To show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,

the oath He swore to our father Abraham:

to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve Him without fear

In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

"Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace."

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,

and all mankind together will see it.

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,

Out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people;

Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the LORD.

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation,

gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations.

His rule will extend from sea to sea

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted,

"Hosanna to the Son of David!"

"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"

John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,

"look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,

because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy one see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,

nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to His own way;

and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.