March 13, 2026

2Sincere Conversion and New Life - Return, Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 3Take with you words, and return to the LORD; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and take what is good. Let us offer the fruit of our lips. 4Assyria will not save us, nor will we mount horses; We will never again say, ‘Our god,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.” 5I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them. 6I will be like the dew for Israel: he will blossom like the lily; He will strike root like the Lebanon cedar, 7and his shoots will go forth. His splendor will be like the olive tree and his fragrance like Lebanon cedar. 8Again they will live in his shade; they will raise grain, They will blossom like the vine, and his renown will be like the wine of Lebanon. 9Ephraim! What more have I to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will take note of him. I am like a verdant cypress tree. From me fruit will be found for you! 10Epilogue - Who is wise enough to understand these things? Who is intelligent enough to know them? Straight are the paths of the LORD, the just walk in them, but sinners stumble in them.

6He made it a decree for Joseph when he came out of the land of Egypt. 7II - I heard a tongue I did not know: “I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands moved away from the basket. 8In distress you called and I rescued you; I answered you in secret with thunder; At the waters of Meribah I tested you: 9‘Listen, my people, I will testify against you Selah If only you will listen to me, Israel! 10There shall be no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. 11‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth that I may fill it.’ 14O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways, 17But Israel I will feed with the finest wheat, I will satisfy them with honey from the rock.”

17From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Call of the First Disciples.

28One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 29Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 30You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ 33And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions. The Question About David’s Son.