Esther

Esther Cross References

• Lesson 1

  Day 1

  No cross references

  Day 2

  No cross references

  Day 3

  2 Timothy 2:15

  ¹⁵  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

  Day 4

  Daniel 11:32

  ³²  He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

  Ezra 4:1-6

  ¹  Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, ²  they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” ³  But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” ⁴  Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build ⁵  and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶  And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

  Day 5

  2 Kings 24:8-16

  ⁸  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹  And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. ¹⁰  At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹  And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, ¹²  and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign ¹³  and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. ¹⁴  He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵  And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶  And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war.

  2 Chronicles 36:9-23

  ⁹  Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. ¹⁰  In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. ¹¹  Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹²  He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. ¹³  He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁴  All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem. ¹⁵  The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶  But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. ¹⁷  Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸  And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. ¹⁹  And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. ²⁰  He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹  to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. ²²  Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ²³  “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.’”

  Isaiah 44:24-28

  ²⁴  Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, ²⁵  who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, ²⁶  who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’; ²⁷  who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers’; ²⁸  who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

  Isaiah 45:1-7

  ¹  Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: ²  “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, ³  I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. ⁴  For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. ⁵  I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, ⁶  that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. ⁷  I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

• Lesson 2

  Day 1

  No cross references

  Day 2

  Proverbs 16:33

  ³³  The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

  Acts 1:15-26

  ¹⁵  In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, ¹⁶  “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷  For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” ¹⁸  (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. ¹⁹  And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰  “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “‘Let another take his office.’ ²¹  So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²  beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us–one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” ²³  And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴  And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen ²⁵  to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” ²⁶  And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

  Day 3

  Numbers 24:3-7

  ³  and he took up his discourse and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, ⁴  the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: ⁵  How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! ⁶  Like palm groves that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters. ⁷  Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

  1 Samuel 15:1-35

  ¹  And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. ²  Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. ³  Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” ⁴  So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵  And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. ⁶  Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ⁷  And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸  And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹  But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. ¹⁰  The word of the LORD came to Samuel: ¹¹  “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night. ¹²  And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” ¹³  And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” ¹⁴  And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” ¹⁵  Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” ¹⁶  Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷  And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸  And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ ¹⁹  Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” ²⁰  And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. ²¹  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” ²²  And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. ²³  For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” ²⁴  Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵  Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the LORD.” ²⁶  And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ²⁷  As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸  And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. ²⁹  And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” ³⁰  Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” ³¹  So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the LORD. ³²  Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” ³³  And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. ³⁴  Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵  And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

  Exodus 17:8-16

  ⁸  Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹  So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰  So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹  Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹²  But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³  And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. ¹⁴  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵  And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, ¹⁶  saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

  Proverbs 6:16-19

  ¹⁶  There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: ¹⁷  haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸  a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, ¹⁹  a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

  Day 4

  No cross references

  Day 5

  Ezra 1:1-3

  ¹  In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ²  “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³  Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel–he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

  Ezra 4:6-16

  ⁶  And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷  In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. ⁸  Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: ⁹  Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, ¹⁰  and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. ¹¹  (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now ¹²  be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³  Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. ¹⁴  Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, ¹⁵  in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶  We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

  Exodus 6:1-8

  ¹  But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” ²  God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. ³  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. ⁴  I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. ⁵  Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶  Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. ⁷  I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸  I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’”

  Genesis 37:34

  ³⁴  Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.

  Genesis 18:27

  ²⁷  Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.

  Job 42:4-6

  ⁴  ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ ⁵  I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; ⁶  therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

  Judges 20:26

  ²⁶  Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

  Jonah 3:4-10

  ⁴  Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵  And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. ⁶  The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷  And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸  but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. ⁹  Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” ¹⁰  When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

  2 Samuel 12:16

  ¹⁶  David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground.

  Joel 2:11-17

  ¹¹  The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it? ¹²  “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³  and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. ¹⁴  Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? ¹⁵  Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; ¹⁶  gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. ¹⁷  Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

  Jeremiah 6:22-26

  ²²  Thus says the LORD: “Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. ²³  They lay hold on bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy; the sound of them is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion!” ²⁴  We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor. ²⁵  Go not out into the field, nor walk on the road, for the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side. ²⁶  O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

  Genesis 12:1-3

  ¹  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ²  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

  Genesis 13:14-16

  ¹⁴  The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵  for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. ¹⁶  I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

  Jeremiah 31:27-37

  ²⁷  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸  And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. ²⁹  In those days they shall no longer say: “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ ³⁰  But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. ³¹  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³²  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. ³³  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” ³⁵  Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar– the LORD of hosts is his name: ³⁶  “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” ³⁷  Thus says the LORD: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.”

  Ezekiel 37:19-28

  ¹⁹  say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. ²⁰  When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, ²¹  then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. ²²  And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. ²³  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴  “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. ²⁵  They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. ²⁶  I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ²⁷  My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸  Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

  Mark 8:34-38

  ³⁴  And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷  For what can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

  Matthew 28:18-20

  ¹⁸  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

• Lesson 3

  Lesson 3

  Day 1

  No cross references

  Day 2

  No cross references

  Day 3

  No cross references

  Day 4 & 5

  2 Timothy 3:16-17

  ¹⁶  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

• Lesson 4

  Day 1

  No cross references

  Day 2

  Romans 15:4

  ⁴  For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

  Genesis 17:9-14

  ⁹  And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰  This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹  You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹²  He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, ¹³  both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴  Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

  Exodus 12:43-49

  ⁴³  And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴  but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. ⁴⁵  No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. ⁴⁶  It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. ⁴⁷  All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸  If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹  There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”

  Exodus 20:8-11

  ⁸  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

  Leviticus 24:13-22

  ¹³  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴  “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵  And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. ¹⁶  Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. ¹⁷  “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸  Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. ¹⁹  If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, ²⁰  fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. ²¹  Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. ²²  You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.”

  Numbers 15:14-31

  ¹⁴  And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do. ¹⁵  For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. ¹⁶  One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.” ¹⁷  The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸  “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you ¹⁹  and when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the LORD. ²⁰  Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. ²¹  Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD as a contribution throughout your generations. ²²  “But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the LORD has spoken to Moses, ²³  all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations, ²⁴  then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering. ²⁵  And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven, because it was a mistake, and they have brought their offering, a food offering to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD for their mistake. ²⁶  And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the mistake. ²⁷  “If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. ²⁸  And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. ²⁹  You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. ³⁰  But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹  Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.”

  Deuteronomy 16:10-12

  ¹⁰  Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. ¹¹  And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. ¹²  You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

  Ruth 1:8-18

  ⁸  But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹  The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰  And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹  But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? ¹²  Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, ¹³  would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” ¹⁴  Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. ¹⁵  And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶  But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷  Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” ¹⁸  And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

  Ruth 4:9-11, 13-17

  ⁹  Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. ¹⁰  Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” ¹¹  Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, … ¹³  So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴  Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵  He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” ¹⁶  Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. ¹⁷  And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

  Day 3

  1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

  ¹⁹  For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? ²⁰  For you are our glory and joy.

  Day 4

  Deuteronomy 21:22-23

  ²²  “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, ²³  his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

  Galatians 3:13

  ¹³  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”–

  Day 5

  No cross references