I will keep my promise and make you mine, and you will acknowledge me as LORD.

"I myself will teach your people and give them prosperity and peace.

I will give them the desire to know that I am the LORD. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.

and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the LORD, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the LORD's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people."

And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

My child, learn what I teach you and never forget what I tell you to do.

Yes, beg for knowledge; plead for insight.

If you do, you will know what it means to fear the LORD and you will succeed in learning about God.

Jesus answered, "The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority.

The people there were more open-minded than the people in Thessalonica. They listened to the message with great eagerness, and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true.

Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead.

All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you.

For we are all partners with Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning.

is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn, the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain."

yet their message goes out to all the world and is heard to the ends of the earth. God made a home in the sky for the sun;

The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.

But for you who obey me, my saving power will rise on you like the sun and bring healing like the sun's rays. You will be as free and happy as calves let out of a stall.

Our God is merciful and tender. He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us

So we are even more confident of the message proclaimed by the prophets. You will do well to pay attention to it, because it is like a lamp shining in a dark place until the Day dawns and the light of the morning star shines in your hearts.

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to announce these things to you in the churches. I am descended from the family of David; I am the bright morning star."

I said, 'Plow new ground for yourselves, plant righteousness, and reap the blessings that your devotion to me will produce. It is time for you to turn to me, your LORD, and I will come and pour out blessings upon you.'

I will be to the people of Israel like rain in a dry land. They will blossom like flowers; they will be firmly rooted like the trees of Lebanon.

My teaching will fall like drops of rain and form on the earth like dew. My words will fall like showers on young plants, like gentle rain on tender grass.

everyone welcomed them just as farmers welcome rain in spring.

You show your care for the land by sending rain; you make it rich and fertile. You fill the streams with water; you provide the earth with crops. This is how you do it:

May the king be like rain on the fields, like showers falling on the land.

I will let it be overgrown with weeds. I will not trim the vines or hoe the ground; instead, I will let briers and thorns cover it. I will even forbid the clouds to let rain fall on it."

But once more God will send us his spirit. The wasteland will become fertile, and fields will produce rich crops.

"I will give water to the thirsty land and make streams flow on the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit on your children and my blessing on your descendants.

I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you.

"Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice at what the LORD your God has done for you. He has given you the right amount of autumn rain; he has poured down the winter rain for you and the spring rain as before.

The threshing places will be full of grain; the pits beside the presses will overflow with wine and olive oil.

The people of Israel who survive will be like refreshing dew sent by the LORD for many nations, like showers on growing plants. They will depend on God, not people.

Ask the LORD for rain in the spring of the year. It is the LORD who sends rain clouds and showers, making the fields green for everyone.