February 1, 2027

32What more shall I say? I have not time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33who by faith conquered kingdoms, did what was righteous, obtained the promises; they closed the mouths of lions, 34put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword; out of weakness they were made powerful, became strong in battle, and turned back foreign invaders. 35Women received back their dead through resurrection. Some were tortured and would not accept deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36Others endured mockery, scourging, even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death at sword’s point; they went about in skins of sheep or goats, needy, afflicted, tormented. 38The world was not worthy of them. They wandered about in deserts and on mountains, in caves and in crevices in the earth. 39Yet all these, though approved because of their faith, did not receive what had been promised. 40God had foreseen something better for us, so that without us they should not be made perfect.

20III - How great is your goodness, Lord, stored up for those who fear you. You display it for those who trust you, in the sight of the children of Adam. 21You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from scheming enemies. You conceal them in your tent, away from the strife of tongues. 22Blessed be the LORD, marvelously he showed to me his mercy in a fortified city. 23Though I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your eyes.” Yet you heard my voice, my cry for mercy, when I pleaded with you for help. 24Love the LORD, all you who are faithful to him. The LORD protects the loyal, but repays the arrogant in full.

16Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.”

1They came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. 2When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. 3The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. 4In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. 6Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, 7crying out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” 8(He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”) 9He asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.” 10And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory. 11Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. 12And they pleaded with him, “Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.” 13And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. 14The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. 15As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. 16Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. 17Then they began to beg him to leave their district. 18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. 19But he would not permit him but told him instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” 20Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed. Jairus’s Daughter and the Woman with a Hemorrhage.