May the king's name never be forgotten; may his fame last as long as the sun. May all nations ask God to bless them as he has blessed the king.

Praise his glorious name forever! May his glory fill the whole world. Amen! Amen!

His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace. He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time. The LORD Almighty is determined to do all this.

It was the will of the LORD that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him.

We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him--- we ignored him as if he were nothing.

And so I will give him a place of honor, a place among the great and powerful. He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men. He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven."

While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them.

At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth.

At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever.

You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling Your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamed, and have given you its true meaning."

Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field.

Jesus told them still another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises."

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The power to rule over the world belongs now to our Lord and his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever!"

For David served God's purposes in his own time, and then he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body rotted in the grave.

But this did not happen to the one whom God raised from death.

After all, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? We are simply God's servants, by whom you were led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to do:

The Law was carved in letters on stone tablets, and God's glory appeared when it was given. Even though the brightness on Moses' face was fading, it was so strong that the people of Israel could not keep their eyes fixed on him. If the Law, which brings death when it is in force, came with such glory,

The system which brings condemnation was glorious; how much more glorious is the activity which brings salvation!

For if there was glory in that which lasted for a while, how much more glory is there in that which lasts forever!

He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things.

He was faithful to God, who chose him to do this work, just as Moses was faithful in his work in God's house.

Every house, of course, is built by someone---and God is the one who has built all things.

But Christ is faithful as the Son in charge of God's house. We are his house if we keep up our courage and our confidence in what we hope for.