current events

²⁵Grief in the heart of a man humbles him. And with a good word he shall be made glad.

²¹My son, let not these things move away from your eyes. Preserve law as well as counsel.

¹Consider, most beloved, this second epistle which I am writing to you, in which I stir up, by admonition, your sincere mind, ²so that you may be mindful of those words that I preached to you from the holy prophets, and of the precepts of the Apostles of your Lord and Savior. ³Know this first: that in the last days there will arrive deceitful mockers, walking according to their own desires, ⁴saying: “Where is his promise or his advent? For from the time that the fathers have slept, all things have continued just as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵But they willfully ignore this: that the heavens existed first, and that the earth, from water and through water, was established by the Word of God. ⁶By water, the former world then, having been inundated with water, perished.

¹¹And so, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead, refute them.

²⁴And they will fall by the edge of the sword. And they will be led away as captives into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles, until the times of the nations are fulfilled. ²⁵And there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. And there will be, on earth, distress among the Gentiles, out of confusion at the roaring of the sea and of the waves: ²⁶men withering away out of fear and out of apprehension over the things that will overwhelm the whole world. For the powers of the heavens will be moved. ²⁷And then they will see the Son of man coming on a cloud, with great power and majesty.

⁸And the Lord, who is your commander, will himself be with you. He will neither renounce nor abandon you. Do not be afraid, and do not dread.”

¹³So may the God of hope fill you with every joy and with peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope and in the virtue of the Holy Spirit.

¹Then the Lord said to Abram: “Depart from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, and come into the land that I will show you. ²And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and magnify your name, and you will be blessed. ³I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” ⁴And so Abram departed just as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵And he took his wife Sarai, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all the substance which they had come to possess, and the lives which they had acquired in Haran, and they departed in order to go to the land of Canaan. And when they arrived in it, ⁶Abram passed through the land even to the place of Shechem, as far as the famous steep valley. Now at that time, the Canaanite was in the land.

¹All things have their time, and all things under heaven continue during their interval. ²A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pull up what was planted. ³A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to tear down, and a time to build up. ⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. ⁵A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. ⁶A time to gain, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.

⁴All day long your tongue thinks up injustice. Like a sharp razor, you have wrought deceit.

¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ²“Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of the head of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy about him. ³And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of the head of Meshech and Tubal. ⁴And I will turn you around, and I will place a bit in your jaws. And I will lead you away, with all your army, the horses and the horsemen all clothed in armor, a great multitude, equipped with spears and light shields and swords, ⁵the Persians, the Ethiopians, and the Libyans with them, all with heavy shields and helmets, ⁶Gomer, and all his companies, the house of Togarmah, the northern parts, and all his strength, and the many peoples with you.

³⁴And calling together the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone chooses to follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵For whoever will have chosen to save his life, will lose it. But whoever will have lost his life, for my sake and for the Gospel, shall save it. ³⁶For how does it benefit a man, if he gains the whole world, and yet causes harm to his soul? ³⁷Or, what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸For whoever has been ashamed of me and of my words, among this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also will be ashamed of him, when he will arrive in the glory of his Father, with the holy Angels.”