The Bible, quoted
in its own voices.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear. As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters. As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively. By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone. Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely. I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion. I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD. It will happen in that day, that I will respond,” says the LORD. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel. I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘You are My God!’”

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the LORD’s word came to the prophet Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying, “I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses. Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to go back and forth through the earth.” They reported to the LORD’s angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.” Then the LORD’s angel replied, “O LORD of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?”

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language, Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back? You mountains, that you skipped like rams? You little hills, like lambs? Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.

“For my people are foolish. They don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but they don’t know how to do good.” I saw the earth and, behold, it was waste and void, and the heavens, and they had no light. I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled.

The LORD’s word came again to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ For the day is near, even the LORD’s day is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of the nations. A sword will come on Egypt, and anguish will be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt. They take away her multitude, and her foundations are broken down. “‘“Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mixed people, Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, will fall with them by the sword.”

Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.

What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, or has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up. If any man speaks in another language, let there be two, or at the most three, and in turn; and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three of the prophets speak, and let the others discern. But if a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first keep silent. For you all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be exhorted.

“Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”

A Song of Ascents. By David.

LORD, my heart isn’t arrogant, nor my eyes lofty; nor do I concern myself with great matters, or things too wonderful for me. Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Israel, hope in the LORD, from this time forward and forever more.