2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going*to prepare a place for you?

1 The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the expanse  * proclaims the work of his hands.  *

2 Day after day they pour out speech;

night after night they communicate knowledge.  *

5 God, be exalted above the heavens,  *

and let your glory be over the whole earth.  *

8 Our help is in the name of the  Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.  *

25 Who do I have in heaven but you?

And I desire nothing on earth but you.  *

1 In the beginning  * God created the heavens and the earth.  *,*

2 Now the earth was formless and empty,  * darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.  *

6 He builds his upper chambers

in the heavens  *

and lays the foundation of his vault

on the earth.  *

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out over the surface of the earth.  *

The Lord is his name.  *

24 Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him? "  *  — the Lord’s declaration. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth? "  *  — the Lord’s declaration.

17 Oh, Lord God! You yourself made the heavens and earth  * by your great power  * and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!  *

20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

19 "Don’t store up for yourselves treasures*on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.*20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,*where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.

14 Jesus said, "Leave the little children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to me, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."*,*

21 "If you want to be perfect,"* Jesus said to him, "go, sell your belongings and give to the poor,*and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

35 Heaven and earth will pass away,*but my words will never pass away.*

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  *

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,  *,* with the archangel’s  * voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ  * will rise first. 17 Then  * we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds  * to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.  * We know that when he appears,  * we will be like him  * because we will see him as he is.  *3 And everyone who has this hope  * in him purifies himself just as he is pure.  *

18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.  * To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

50 Then he led them out to the vicinity of Bethany,  * and lifting up his hands  * he blessed them. 51 And while he was blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven.  *

9 After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh  * and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,  * against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil,  * spiritual forces in the heavens.  *

7 For we brought nothing into the world, and  * we can take nothing out.  *8 If we have food and clothing,  * we will be content with these.

9 "For as heaven is higher than earth,  *

so my ways are higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

1 There is an occasion for everything,

and a time for every activity under heaven:  *

15 As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came;  * he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands.