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So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, fourteen generations.
So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,
which is translated “God is with us.”
but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son.[fn] And he named him Jesus.
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”[fn]
So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah:
Because out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.”[fn]
After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was — the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.
Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him.[fn] Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”
He stayed there until Herod's death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.
Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men.
A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping,[fn] and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.
saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who intended to kill the child are dead.”
Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Now John had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him,
When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
“And don't presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.
“The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
“His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”
But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me? ”
When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him,[fn] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.
Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will give his angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.”[fn]
Then Jesus told him, “Go away,[fn] Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who live in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those living in the land of the shadow of death,
a light has dawned.[fn]
From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, preparing their nets, and he called them.
Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And he healed them.
Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.
“You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me.
“Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
“For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter[fn] or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.
“Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
“leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
“Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you're on the way with him to the court, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, and the judge to[fn] the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
“And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
“But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
“But I tell you, don't resist[fn] an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
“As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
“Give to the one who asks you, and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
“so that you may be[fn] children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
“For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?
“So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
“so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[fn]
“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
“But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[fn]
“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
“so that your fasting isn't obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[fn]
“Don't store up for yourselves treasures[fn] on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal.
“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
“Therefore I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing?
“Consider the birds of the sky: They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they?
“And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don't labor or spin thread.
“If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't he do much more for you — you of little faith?
“But seek first the kingdom of God[fn] and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
“For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.
“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,' and look, there's a beam of wood in your own eye?
“Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.
“Don't give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door[fn] will be opened to you.
“For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name? '
“Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers! '[fn]
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
“The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn't collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn't act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
“The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
Right away a man with leprosy[fn] came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Then Jesus told him, “See that you don't tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
“For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command.[fn] I say to this one, ‘Go,' and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this! ' and he does it.”
Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith.
“I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet[fn] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
“But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.[fn]
So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him.
When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick,
so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
He himself took our weaknesses
and carried our diseases.
Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves — but Jesus kept sleeping.
He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith? ” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him! ”
When he had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes,[fn] two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us,[fn] Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? ”
“Go! ” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.
Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed.
At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Just then some men[fn] brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”
Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?[fn]
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.
While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? ”
“Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners.”[fn]
Then John's disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? ”
“No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.
“And no one puts[fn] new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
As he was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, “My daughter just died,[fn] but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,
When Jesus came to the leader's house, he saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.
“Leave,” he said, “because the girl is not dead but asleep.” And they laughed at him.
After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David! ”
When he entered the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this? ”
They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”
And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no one finds out.”
When the demon had been driven out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel! ”
When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.
These are the names of the twelve apostles: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;[fn]
Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions: “Don't take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don't enter any Samaritan town.
“and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you.
“If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.
“Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
“Look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.
“Beware of them, because they will hand you over to local courts[fn] and flog you in their synagogues.
“You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
“You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
“It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,' how much more the members of his household!
“Therefore, don't be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won't be uncovered and nothing hidden that won't be made known.
“What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper,[fn] proclaim on the housetops.
“Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
“For I came to turn
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
“The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
“Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.
“The one who welcomes you welcomes me, and the one who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.
“And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple,[fn] truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
“The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy[fn] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news,
“What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence,[fn] and the violent have been seizing it by force.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago.
“But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
“And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today.
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.
“All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires[fn] to reveal him.
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain.
He said to them, “Haven't you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry:
“how he entered the house of God, and they ate[fn] the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests?
“Or haven't you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent?
“If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.
There he saw a man who had a shriveled hand, and in order to accuse him they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? ”
He replied to them, “Who among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn't take hold of it and lift it out?
Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored, as good as the other.
Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds[fn] followed him, and he healed them all.
Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not break a bruised reed,
and he will not put out a smoldering wick,
until he has led justice to victory.[fn]
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him. He healed him, so that the man[fn] could both speak and see.
Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
“If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
“And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges.
“How can someone enter a strong man's house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
“Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.
“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.
“Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad[fn] and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
“A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
“For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish[fn] three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's preaching; and look — something greater than Jonah is here.
“The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look — something greater than Solomon is here.
“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn't find any.
“Then it says, ‘I'll go back to my house that I came from.' Returning, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order.
“Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person's last condition is worse than the first. That's how it will also be with this evil generation.”
While he was still speaking with the crowds, his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to him.
Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”[fn]
He replied to the one who was speaking to him, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers? ”
Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.
Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow.
“Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn't have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn't deep.
“But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
“Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.
Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables? ”
“For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
“That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.
“Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You will listen and listen,
but never understand;
you will look and look,
but never perceive.
“For this people's heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and
understand with their hearts,
and turn back —
and I would heal them.
“For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn't see them, to hear the things you hear but didn't hear them.
“When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.
“And the one sown on rocky ground — this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.
“Now the one sown among the thorns — this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness[fn] of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
“But the one sown on the good ground — this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”
“But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left.
“Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I'll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn.' ”
“It's the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it's taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable,
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
“Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
“They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.
“When he found one priceless[fn] pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,
“and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones.
“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,
“and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law[fn] who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”
He went to his hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?
“Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph,[fn] Simon, and Judas?
And they were offended by him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”
“This is John the Baptist,” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that's why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
For Herod had arrested John, chained[fn] him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,
Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet.
When Herod's birthday celebration came, Herodias's daughter danced before them[fn] and pleased Herod.
Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests.
His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.
Then his disciples came, removed the corpse,[fn] buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
When Jesus heard about it, he withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns.
When he went ashore,[fn] he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
When evening came, the disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late.[fn] Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
Then he commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
Everyone ate and was satisfied. They picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces.
Immediately he[fn] made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It's a ghost! ” they said, and they cried out in fear.
He said, “Come.”
And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus.
But when he saw the strength of the wind,[fn] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me! ”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt? ”
When the men of that place recognized him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to him all who were sick.
They begged him that they might only touch the end of his robe, and as many as touched it were healed.
“For God said:[fn] Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,[fn] “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”
Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she's crying out after us.”
He answered, “It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”
Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment[fn] her daughter was healed.
Moving on from there, Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee. He went up on a mountain and sat there,
and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he healed them.
So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they gave glory to the God of Israel.
Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they've already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place to feed such a crowd? ”
“How many loaves do you have? ” Jesus asked them.
“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”
he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces — seven large baskets full.
After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.[fn]
The Pharisees and Sadducees approached, and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
“An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of[fn] Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.
Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven[fn] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
“Don't you understand yet? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected?
“Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected?
“Why is it you don't understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,' it wasn't about bread? ”
Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,[fn] because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no,[fn] Lord! This will never happen to you! ”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
“For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done.
After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light.
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it's good for us to be here. If you want, I will set up[fn] three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered[fn] them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him! ”
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don't tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised[fn] from the dead.”
So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? ”
“But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn't recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”
“Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures[fn] and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water.
Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”
“They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.
When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? ”
“But, so we won't offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin.[fn] Take it and give it to them for me and you.”
“Truly I tell you,” he said, “unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.
“If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.
“And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire.[fn]
“What do you think? If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won't he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray?
“And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over that sheep[fn] more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
“If your brother sins against you,[fn] go tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.
“If he doesn't pay attention to them, tell the church.[fn] If he doesn't pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.
Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times? ”
“Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
“At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.'
“Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
“That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[fn] He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe! '
“At this, his fellow servant fell down[fn] and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
“When the other servants saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.
“And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan.
Some Pharisees approached him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds? ”
“Haven't you read,” he replied, “that he who created[fn] them in the beginning made them male and female,
“and he also said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?
“Why then,” they asked him, “did Moses command us to give divorce papers and to send her away? ”
“I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery.”[fn]
“For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept it should accept it.”
Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.
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.”[fn]
Just then someone came up and asked him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life? ”
“If you want to be perfect,”[fn] Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Then Peter responded to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us? ”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother[fn] or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life.
“When he went out about nine in the morning,[fn] he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
“He said to them, ‘You also go into my vineyard, and I'll give you whatever is right.' So off they went.
“ ‘Because no one hired us,' they said to him.
“ ‘You also go into my vineyard,' he told them.[fn]
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, starting with the last and ending with the first.'
“So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each.
“‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day's work and the burning heat.'
While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way,
“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death.
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons approached him with her sons. She knelt down to ask him for something.
“What do you want? ” he asked her.
“Promise,”[fn] she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom.”
He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup,[fn] but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.
“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David! ”
Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him.
When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples,
telling them, “Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me.
“If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.”
Tell Daughter Zion,
“See, your King is coming to you,
gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt,
the foal of a donkey.”
They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them.
A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.
Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted:
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!
Jesus went into the temple[fn] and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.
He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves! ”
When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David! ” they were indignant
and said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying? ”
Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read:
You have prepared[fn] praise
from the mouths of infants and nursing babies? ”
Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again! ” At once the fig tree withered.
When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly? ”
Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done.
When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority? ”
So they answered Jesus, “We don't know.”
And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
“What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go work in the vineyard today.'
“Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,' he answered, but he didn't go.
“Which of the two did his father's will? ”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.
“For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn't believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn't even change your minds then and believe him.
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.
“Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them.
“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.'
“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.[fn]
This is what the Lord has done
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.
“Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”[fn]
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them.
Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because the people regarded him as a prophet.
“He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn't want to come.
“Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I've prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'
“The king[fn] was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.
“Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.'
“So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.[fn]
“So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes? ' The man was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot,[fn] and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don't care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality.[fn]
“Caesar's,” they said to him.
Then he said to them, “Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
That same day some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came up to him and questioned him:
“Teacher, Moses said, if a man dies, having no children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.
“Now there were seven brothers among us. The first got married and died. Having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother.
“I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He[fn] is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
No one was able to answer him at all,[fn] and from that day no one dared to question him anymore.
“Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don't do what they do, because they don't practice what they teach.
“They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry[fn] and put them on people's shoulders, but they themselves aren't willing to lift a finger to move them.
“Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven.
“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you don't go in, and you don't allow those entering to go in.[fn]
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!
“Blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
“Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.
“The one who takes an oath by the temple takes an oath by it and by him who dwells in it.
“And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God's throne and by him who sits on it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed[fn] and self-indulgence.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.
“In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,
“and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn't have taken part with them in shedding the prophets' blood.'
“This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
“So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you,[fn] from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks[fn] under her wings, but you were not willing!
As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings.
While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? ”
“For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many.
“You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.
“For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines[fn] and earthquakes in various places.
“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.
“This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world[fn] as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
“Unless those days were cut short, no one would[fn] be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.
“For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
“Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
“He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
“Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.
“Now concerning that day and hour no one knows — neither the angels of heaven nor the Son[fn] — except the Father alone.
“For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.
“They didn't know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be.
“But know this: If the homeowner had known what time[fn] the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.
“This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time?
“that servant's master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.
“He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“The wise ones answered, ‘No, there won't be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell oil, and buy some for yourselves.'
“When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
“Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us! '
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them.
“To one he gave five talents,[fn] to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one's ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately
“the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more.
“But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.
“After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
“The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I've earned five more talents.'
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy.'
“The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I've earned two more talents.'
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy.'
“The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You're a harsh man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed.
“So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.'
“His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown and gather where I haven't scattered,
“For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
“And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels[fn] with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
“All the nations[fn] will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
“ ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in;
“I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.'
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'
“Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!
“For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink;
“I was a stranger and you didn't take me in; I was naked and you didn't clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn't take care of me.'
“Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you? '
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
“You know[fn] that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Then the chief priests[fn] and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas,
a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table.
“Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
“Go into the city to a certain man,” he said, “and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time is near; I am celebrating the Passover at your place[fn] with my disciples.' ”
As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you.
Then Jesus said to them, “Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
“Even if I have to die with you,” Peter told him, “I will never deny you,” and all the disciples said the same thing.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
He said to them, “I am deeply grieved[fn] to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.”
Going a little farther,[fn] he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn't you stay awake with me one hour?
“Stay awake and pray, so that you won't enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
And he came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open.
After leaving them, he went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.
Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? See, the time is near. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. A large mob with swords and clubs was with him from the chief priests and elders of the people.
“Friend,” Jesus asked him, “why have you come? ”[fn]
Then they came up, took hold of Jesus, and arrested him.
At that moment one of those with Jesus reached out his hand and drew his sword. He struck the high priest's servant and cut off his ear.
“Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and he will provide me here and now with more than twelve legions of angels?
At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal,[fn] to capture me? Every day I used to sit, teaching in the temple, and you didn't arrest me.
Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had convened.
Peter was following him at a distance right to the high priest's courtyard. He went in and was sitting with the servants to see the outcome.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death,
stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.' ”
The high priest stood up and said to him, “Don't you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you? ”
But Jesus kept silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said it,” Jesus told him. “But I tell you, in the future[fn] you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl approached him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean too.”
When he had gone out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene! ”
After a little while those standing there approached and said to Peter, “You really are one of them, since even your accent[fn] gives you away.”
Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I don't know the man! ” Immediately a rooster crowed,
and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
When daybreak came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death.
After tying him up, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate,[fn] the governor.
Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.
So he threw the silver into the temple and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.
Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: They took[fn] the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him whose price was set by the Israelites,
Now Jesus stood before the governor. “Are you the king of the Jews? ” the governor asked him.
Jesus answered, “You say so.”
While he was sitting on the judge's bench, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I've suffered terribly in a dream because of him.”
The chief priests and the elders, however, persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to execute Jesus.
They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: “Hail, king of the Jews! ”
After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
they gave him wine[fn] mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it.
Above his head they put up the charge against him in writing: This Is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
Then two criminals[fn] were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.
and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross! ”
In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders,[fn] mocked him and said,
“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him[fn] come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered him a drink.
Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
And they came out of the tombs after his resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.
When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God! ”
Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.
When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.
The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
“So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it.
“Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.' Listen, I have told you.”
So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news.
Just then[fn] Jesus met them and said, “Greetings! ” They came up, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
After the priests[fn] had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money
“If this reaches the governor's ears, we will deal with[fn] him and keep you out of trouble.”
They took the money and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day.
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of[fn] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
John came baptizing[fn] in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news! ”
As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen.
Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order.
Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
They went into Capernaum, and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach.
They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.
“What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God! ”
And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.
They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority![fn] He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew's house with James and John.
Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.
So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her,[fn] and she began to serve them.
When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed.
and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he got up, went out, and made his way to a deserted place; and there he was praying.
And he said to them, “Let's go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come.”
Moved with compassion,[fn] Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.”
telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”[fn]
Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But he was out in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.
So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them.
Since they were not able to bring him to[fn] Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
Right away Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
“Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk'?
Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this! ”
Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.
Then, passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.
While he was reclining at the table in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating[fn] with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him.
When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees[fn] were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast? ”
Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.
“But the time[fn] will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made.
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
On the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way, picking some heads of grain.
The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? ”
He said to them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry —
“how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests — and also gave some to his companions? ”
In order to accuse him, they were watching him closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath.
Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to kill? ” But they were silent.
After looking around at them with anger, he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.
Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea,
Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing.
Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn't crush him.
Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God! ”
He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles,[fn] to be with him, to send them out to preach,
and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, he gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder”);
Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot,
Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat.[fn]
When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He's out of his mind.”
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
“But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.
His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him.
A crowd was sitting around him and told him, “Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters[fn] are outside asking for you.”
Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.
“Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn't have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn't deep.
“Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn't produce fruit.
“Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”
He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables
“so that
they may indeed look,
and yet not perceive;
they may indeed listen,
and yet not understand;
otherwise, they might turn back
and be forgiven.”[fn]
Then he said to them, “Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?
“Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.[fn]
“And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.
“But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.
“but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness[fn] of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
“And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn't it to be put on a lampstand?
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and more will be added to you.
“For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
“He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn't know how.
And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it?
“And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”
He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.
On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let's cross over to the other side of the sea.”
So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.
A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don't you care that we're going to die? ”
He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still! ” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
And they were terrified[fn] and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him! ”
As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.
He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore — not even with a chain —
because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don't torment me! ”
“What is your name? ” he asked him.
“My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.”
So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.
The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened.
They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs.
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him.
Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”
So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
When Jesus had crossed over again by boat[fn] to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the sea.
One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet
and begged him earnestly, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well[fn] and live.”
had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse.
Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Immediately Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes? ”
His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me? ' ”
The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.
“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”
They came to the leader's house, and he saw a commotion — people weeping and wailing loudly.
He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”
They laughed at him, but he put them all outside. He took the child's father, mother, and those who were with him, and entered the place where the child was.
Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum”[fn] (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up”).
Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was twelve years old.) At this they were utterly astounded.
Then he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and told them to give her something to eat.
When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things? ” they said. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands?
“Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren't his sisters here with us? ” So they were offended by him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.”
He was not able to do a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff — no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts,
“If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”[fn]
King Herod heard about it, because Jesus's name had become well known. Some[fn] said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that's why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her.
because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed,[fn] and yet he liked to listen to him.
An opportune time came on his birthday, when Herod gave a banquet for his nobles, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee.
When Herodias's own daughter[fn] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I'll give it to you.”
He promised her with an oath: “Whatever you ask me I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for? ”
“John the Baptist's head,” she said.
At once she hurried to the king and said, “I want you to give me John the Baptist's head on a platter immediately.”
Although the king was deeply distressed, because of his oaths and the guests[fn] he did not want to refuse her.
The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John's head. So he went and beheaded him in prison,
brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother.
When John's disciples heard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb.
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.
He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.[fn]
When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.
When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late.
“Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”
“You give them something to eat,” he responded.
They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii[fn] worth of bread and give them something to eat? ”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”
Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.
He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land.
because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.”
Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded,
They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end of his robe. And everyone who touched it was healed.
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him.
They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean — that is, unwashed — hands.
(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders.
When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.[fn])
He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God's command in order to set up[fn] your tradition!
“For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.
“You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”
When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable.
He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don't you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him?
“For it doesn't go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean).
He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre.[fn] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice.
The woman was a Gentile,[fn] a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”
But she replied to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”
Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
Again, leaving the region of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through[fn] the region of the Decapolis.
They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him.
So he took him away from the crowd in private. After putting his fingers in the man's ears and spitting, he touched his tongue.
Looking up to heaven, he sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha! ”[fn] (that is, “Be opened! ”).
Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly.
He ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.
They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
In those days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He called the disciples and said to them,
“I have compassion on the crowd, because they've already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat.
“If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a long distance.”
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed these people? ”
He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they served them to the crowd.
They also had a few small fish, and after he had blessed them, he said these were to be served as well.
They ate and were satisfied. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces.
And he immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign from heaven to test him.
Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Then he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven[fn] of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don't you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts?
“Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember?
“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect? ”
“Seven,” they said.
He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything? ”
Again Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly.
Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am? ”
They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”
“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am? ”
Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”
Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.
But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God's concerns[fn] but human concerns.”
Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.
“For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”
After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them,
and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them.
Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it's good for us to be here. Let's set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —
A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him! ”
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
“Elijah does come first and restores all things,” he replied. “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
“But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”
When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them.
Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak.
“Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't.”
So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
“How long has this been happening to him? ” Jesus asked his father.
“From childhood,” he said.
“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.”
Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him into terrible convulsions. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He's dead.”
After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn't we drive it out? ”
Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it.
For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed[fn] into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.”
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way? ”
Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”
He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,
“Whoever welcomes[fn] one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone[fn] driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn't following us.”
“Don't stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
“And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire.[fn]
“And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[fn]
“And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
“Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
He set out from there and went to the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Then crowds converged on him again, and as was his custom he taught them again.
Some Pharisees came to test him, asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? ”
He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ”
“You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.”
Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,[fn] follow me.”
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father[fn] or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel,
“who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions — and eternal life in the age to come.
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished, but those who followed him were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him.
“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles,
“and they will mock him, spit on him, flog[fn] him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days.”
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”
“We are able,” they told him.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.
Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”[fn]
They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! ”
Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David! ”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he's calling for you.”
Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want me to do for you? ”
“Rabboni,”[fn] the blind man said to him, “I want to see.”
Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.
When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples
and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.
“If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this? ' say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.' ”
Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields.[fn]
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted:
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord!
He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs.
He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again! ” And his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,
He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves! ”
The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.
Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.
Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
“Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for — believe that you have received[fn] it and it will be yours.
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”[fn]
They came again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came
and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things? ”
Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Then why didn't you believe him? '
So they answered Jesus, “We don't know.”
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away.
“At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from them.
“Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed.
“But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
“What then will the owner[fn] of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others.
They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.
Then they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Jesus to trap him in his words.
When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are truthful and don't care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality but teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn't we? ”
They brought a coin. “Whose image and inscription is this? ” he asked them.
“Caesar's,” they replied.
Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they were utterly amazed at him.
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife behind but no child, that man should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.
“There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring.
“The second also took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.
“And as for the dead being raised — haven't you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?
One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all? ”
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.[fn]
Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him.
“And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding,[fn] and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.
While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David?
“David himself calls him ‘Lord.' How, then, can he be his son? ” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
He also said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces,
“They devour widows' houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”
Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums.
Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings! ”
Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another — all will be thrown down.”
While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,
“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? ”
“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end.
“For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.[fn] These are the beginning of birth pains.
“But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts,[fn] and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them.
“So when they arrest you and hand you over, don't worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn't you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
“You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.
“For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn't been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again.
“If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.
“Then if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there! ' do not believe it.
“For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
“But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light;
“the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
“He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
“Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.
“It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert.
It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill him.
While he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,[fn] as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head.
“For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii[fn] and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her.
“You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.
“Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.
And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the Passover so that you may eat it? ”
So he sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.
“Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? ” '
He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.”
So the disciples went out, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me.”
As they were eating, he took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant,[fn] which is poured out for many.
Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will fall away,[fn] because it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
But he kept insisting, “If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing.
Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
He said to them, “I am deeply grieved[fn] to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.”
He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, “Abba,[fn] Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you stay awake one hour?
“Stay awake and pray so that you won't enter into temptation.[fn] The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.
Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.
His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he's the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.”
So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi! ” and kissed him.
One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his ear.
Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal,[fn] to capture me?
“Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn't arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him,
They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes assembled.
Peter followed him at a distance, right into the high priest's courtyard. He was sitting with the servants,[fn] warming himself by the fire.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they could not find any.
For many were giving false testimony against him, and the testimonies did not agree.
“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.' ”
Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don't you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you? ”
But he kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? ”
“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Then some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to beat him, saying, “Prophesy! ” The temple servants also took him and slapped him.
When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”
When the maidservant saw him again, she began to tell those standing nearby, “This man is one of them.”
But again he denied it. After a little while those standing there said to Peter again, “You certainly are one of them, since you're also a Galilean.”[fn]
Immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
As soon as it was morning, having held a meeting with the elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin, the chief priests tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them; and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor's residence) and called the whole company together.
They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him.
They were hitting him on the head with a stick and spitting on him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying him homage.
After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him.
They led him out to crucify him.
They forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus's cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get.
Those who passed by were yelling insults at[fn] him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!
“Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.
And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni? ” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ”
Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a stick, offered him a drink, and said, “Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down.”
There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
In Galilee these women followed him and took care of him. Many other women had come up with him to Jerusalem.
When it was already evening, because it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus's body.
Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had already died.
After he bought some linen cloth, Joseph took him down and wrapped him in the linen. Then he laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him.
Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise.
They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us? ”
Looking up, they noticed that the stone — which was very large — had been rolled away.
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed.
“But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.' ”
They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.
[Some of the earliest mss conclude with 16:8.][fn]
She went and reported to those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping.
Yet, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen.
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
“they will pick up snakes;[fn] if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
So the Lord Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.]
In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah's division named Zechariah. His wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Both were righteous in God's sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.
But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.
“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and will never drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb.
“And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.”
“How can I know this? ” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.
“Now listen. You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary.
When he did come out, he could not speak to them. Then they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was making signs to them and remained speechless.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said,
to a virgin engaged[fn] to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”[fn]
But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
“And consider your relative Elizabeth — even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.
“See, I am the Lord's servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed![fn]
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her! ”
Then her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her his great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.
When they came to circumcise the child on the eighth day, they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.
He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
Fear came on all those who lived around them, and all these things were being talked about throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard about him took it to heart, saying, “What then will this child become? ” For, indeed, the Lord's hand was with him.
Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited
and provided redemption for his people.
And you, child, will be called
a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare his ways,
to shine on those who live in darkness
and the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
The child grew up and became strong in spirit,[fn] and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David,
Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger,[fn] because there was no guest room available for them.
In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock.
Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.[fn]
But the angel said to them, “Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:[fn]
“This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host[fn] with the angel, praising God and saying:
When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.
When the eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus — the name given by the angel before he was conceived.
And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were finished, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
and to offer a sacrifice (according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons).
There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to Israel's consolation, and the Holy Spirit was on him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord's Messiah.
Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him what was customary under the law,
Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed[fn] —
“and a sword will pierce your own soul — that the thoughts[fn] of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,[fn]
and was a widow for eighty-four years.[fn] She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.
When they had completed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
After those days were over, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents[fn] did not know it.
Assuming he was in the traveling party, they went a day's journey. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends.
After three days, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me? ” he asked them. “Didn't you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father's house? ”[fn]
Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch[fn] of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God's word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be made low;[fn]
the crooked will become straight,
the rough ways smooth,
“Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don't start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.
“The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”
Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do? ”
Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do? ”
He said to them, “Don't take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.
John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with[fn] the Holy Spirit and fire.
“His winnowing shovel is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”
But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the evil things he had done,
When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying, heaven opened,
and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
As he began his ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old and was thought to be the
son of Joseph, son of Heli,
Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry.
So he took him up[fn] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
The devil said to him, “I will give you their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want.
And Jesus answered him,[fn] “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”
So he took him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.
“and
they will support you with their hands,
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.”
Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity.
He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:
He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.
They were all speaking well of him[fn] and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn't this Joseph's son? ”
Then he said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb[fn] to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. What we've heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also.' ”
“But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah's days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land.
“And in the prophet Elisha's time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy,[fn] and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
They got up, drove him out of town, and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff.
Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.
In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice,
“Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God! ”
But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be silent and come out of him! ” And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.
Amazement came over them all, and they were saying to one another, “What is this message? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out! ”
After he left the synagogue, he entered Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her.
So he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and began to serve them.
Also, demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God! ” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
When it was day, he went out and made his way to a deserted place. But the crowds were searching for him. They came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them.
But he said to them, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.”
As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God's word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret.[fn]
He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
“Master,” Simon replied, “we've worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I'll let down the nets.”[fn]
When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets[fn] began to tear.
So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's partners.
“Don't be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.”
While he was in one of the towns, a man was there who had leprosy[fn] all over him. He saw Jesus, fell facedown, and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean,” and immediately the leprosy left him.
Then he ordered him to tell no one: “But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses commanded for your cleansing as a testimony to them.”
But the news[fn] about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
On one of those days while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and also from Jerusalem. And the Lord's power to heal was in him.
Just then some men came, carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before him.
Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to think to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? ”
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he told the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”
Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.
Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, “We have seen incredible things today.”
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.”
Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.
But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? ”
Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick.
Then they said to him, “John's disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink.”
“But the time[fn] will come when the groom will be taken away from them — then they will fast in those days.”
He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old.
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined.
“And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.' ”[fn]
On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Jesus answered them, “Haven't you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry —
“how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him.”
On another Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was shriveled.
The scribes and Pharisees were watching him closely, to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge against him.
But he knew their thoughts and told the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand here.”[fn] So he got up and stood there.
After looking around at them all, he told him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored.[fn]
They, however, were filled with rage and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.
During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.
When daylight came, he summoned his disciples, and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:
Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;
After coming down with them, he stood on a level place with a large crowd of his disciples and a great number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.
They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those tormented by unclean spirits were made well.
The whole crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing them all.
Then looking up at his disciples, he said:
Blessed are you who are poor,
because the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you, insult you,
and slander your name as evil
because of the Son of Man.
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Take note — your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.
“Woe to you who are now full,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you[fn] who are now laughing,
for you will mourn and weep.
“If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don't hold back your shirt either.
“Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don't ask for them back.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
“If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.
“And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full.
“But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
“Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over — will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
He also told them a parable: “Can the blind guide the blind? Won't they both fall into a pit?
“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,' when you yourself don't see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother's eye.
“A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
“I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them:
“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn't shake it, because it was well built.
“But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.”
“That is why I didn't even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.[fn]
“For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,' and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,' and he does it.”
Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel.”
When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant in good health.
Afterward he was on his way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him.
Just as he neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town was also with her.
Then he came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I tell you, get up! ”
Then John's disciples told him about all these things. So John summoned two of his disciples
and sent them to the Lord, asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? ”
At that time Jesus healed many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits, and he granted sight to many blind people.
He replied to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy[fn] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news,
“What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See, those who are splendidly dressed and live in luxury are in royal palaces.
“What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
(And when all the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, they acknowledged God's way of righteousness, because they had been baptized with John's baptism.
But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves.)
“To what then should I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?
“They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other:
We played the flute for you,
but you didn't dance;
we sang a lament,
but you didn't weep!
“For John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon! '
“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! '
Then one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.
And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume
and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears. She wiped his feet with her hair, kissing them and anointing them with the perfume.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him — she's a sinner! ”
Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
He said, “Say it, teacher.”
Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair.
Those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins? ”
Afterward he was traveling from one town and village to another, preaching and telling the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him,
and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary, called Magdalene (seven demons had come out of her);
Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward; Susanna; and many others who were supporting them from their possessions.
As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town, he said in a parable,
“A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it.
“Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture.
“Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”
So he said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that
Looking they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand.
“The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
“And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.
“As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.
“But the seed in the good ground — these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, produce fruit.
“For nothing is concealed that won't be revealed, and nothing hidden that won't be made known and brought to light.
“Therefore take care how you listen. For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”
Then his mother and brothers came to him, but they could not meet with him because of the crowd.
He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”
But he replied to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”
One day he and his disciples got into a boat, and he told them, “Let's cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they set out,
and as they were sailing he fell asleep. Then a fierce windstorm came down on the lake; they were being swamped and were in danger.
They came and woke him up, saying, “Master, Master, we're going to die! ”
Then he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So they ceased, and there was a calm.
He said to them, “Where is your faith? ”
They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, “Who then is this? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him! ”
When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torment me! ”
For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.
A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him to permit them to enter the pigs, and he gave them permission.
The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
When the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran off and reported it in the town and in the countryside.
Then people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man the demons had departed from, sitting at Jesus's feet, dressed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
Then all the people of the Gerasene region[fn] asked him to leave them, because they were gripped by great fear. So getting into the boat, he returned.
“Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you.” And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him.
Just then, a man named Jairus came. He was a leader of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus's feet and pleaded with him to come to his house,
because he had an only daughter about twelve years old, and she was dying.
While he was going, the crowds were nearly crushing him.
A woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years, who had spent all she had on doctors[fn] and yet could not be healed by any,
approached from behind and touched the end of his robe. Instantly her bleeding stopped.
When the woman saw that she was discovered, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she declared the reason she had touched him and how she was instantly healed.
When Jesus heard it, he answered him, “Don't be afraid. Only believe, and she will be saved.”[fn]
After he came to the house, he let no one enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the child's father and mother.
Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But he said, “Stop crying, because she is not dead but asleep.”
Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he gave orders that she be given something to eat.
Summoning the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.
“Take nothing for the road,” he told them, “no staff, no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don't take an extra shirt.
“If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
So they went out and traveled from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.
Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was going on. He was perplexed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead,
“I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this I hear such things about? ” And he wanted to see him.
When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus all that they had done. He took them along and withdrew privately to a[fn] town called Bethsaida.
When the crowds found out, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to him, “Send the crowd away, so that they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.”
“You give them something to eat,” he told them.
“We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke them. He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
While he was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am? ”
saying, “It is necessary that the Son of Man suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.”
“For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and the holy angels.
About eight days after this conversation, he took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
Peter and those with him were in a deep sleep,[fn] and when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him.
As the two men were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it's good for us to be here. Let's set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — not knowing what he was saying.
While he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They became afraid as they entered the cloud.
Then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the Chosen One;[fn] listen to him! ”
After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They kept silent, and at that time told no one what they had seen.
Just then a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he's my only child.
“A spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; severely bruising him, it scarcely ever leaves him.
Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse[fn] generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
As the boy was still approaching, the demon knocked him down and threw him into severe convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
But they did not understand this statement; it was concealed from them so that they could not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
He told them, “Whoever welcomes[fn] this little child in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. For whoever is least among you — this one is great.”
John responded, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us.”
When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined[fn] to journey to Jerusalem.
He sent messengers ahead of himself, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him.
When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them? ”[fn]
As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”
But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two[fn] others, and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go.
“Don't carry a money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals; don't greet anyone along the road.
“If a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
“Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Don't move from house to house.
“When you enter any town, and they don't welcome you, go out into its streets and say,
“‘We are wiping off even the dust of your town that clings to our feet as a witness against you. Know this for certain: The kingdom of God has come near.'
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
“Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
The seventy-two[fn] returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
“Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you.
Then turning to his disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see!
“For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but didn't see them; to hear the things you hear but didn't hear them.”
Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ”
He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead.
“A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
“In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
“But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.
“He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
The Lord[fn] answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,
He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
He also said to them, “Suppose one of you[fn] has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
“because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don't have anything to offer him.'
“Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can't get up to give you anything.'
“I tell you, even though he won't get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend's shameless boldness,[fn] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.
“For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“What father among you, if his son[fn] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?
Now he was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.
Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls.
“If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul.
“But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he takes from him all his weapons[fn] he trusted in, and divides up his plunder.
“Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.
“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and not finding rest, it then[fn] says, ‘I'll go back to my house that I came from.'
“Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person's last condition is worse than the first.”
As he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the one who nursed you! ”
As the crowds were increasing, he began saying, “This generation is an evil generation. It demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.[fn]
“For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
“The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and look — something greater than Solomon is here.
“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's preaching, and look — something greater than Jonah is here.
“Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness.
But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.
“But give from what is within to the poor,[fn] and then everything is clean for you.
“Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
“Woe to you![fn] You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don't know it.”
One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.”
Then he said, “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, and yet you yourselves don't touch these burdens with one of your fingers.
“Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,'
“from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.
“Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible.[fn]
“Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”
When he left there,[fn] the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him about many things;
“There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known.
“Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
“I say to you, my friends, don't fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.
“Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies?[fn] Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight.
“Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
“And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God,
“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
“Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don't worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say.
He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”
“He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don't have anywhere to store my crops?
“I will do this,' he said. ‘I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there.
“Then I'll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” '
“That's how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
“Consider the ravens: They don't sow or reap; they don't have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds?
“If that's how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he do for you — you of little faith?
“Don't strive for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don't be anxious.
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won't grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
“You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.
“Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready,[fn] have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.
“If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn,[fn] and finds them alert, blessed are those servants.
The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time?
“But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,' and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
“And that servant who knew his master's will and didn't prepare himself or do it[fn] will be severely beaten.
“But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected.[fn]
“From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three.
“They will be divided, father against son,
son against father,
mother against daughter,
daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law,
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,' and so it does.
“Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don't you know how to interpret this present time?
“As you are going with your adversary to the ruler, make an effort to settle with him on the way. Then he won't drag you before the judge, the judge hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff throw you into prison.
“I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny.”[fn]
And he[fn] responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things?
“Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed — do you think they were more sinful than all the other people who live in Jerusalem?
And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none.
“He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil? '
“But he replied to him, ‘Sir,[fn] leave it this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
When Jesus saw her, he called out to her,[fn] “Woman, you are free of your disability.”
Then he laid his hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”
But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn't each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water?
“Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for eighteen years — shouldn't she be untied from this bondage[fn] on the Sabbath day? ”
When he had said these things, all his adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things he was doing.
“It's like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”
He went through one town and village after another, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem.
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won't be able
“once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door. Then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us! ' He will answer you, ‘I don't know you or where you're from.'
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'
“But he will say, ‘I tell you, I don't know you or where you're from. Get away from me, all you evildoers! '
“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown out.
“They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet[fn] in the kingdom of God.
At that time some Pharisees came and told him, “Go, get out of here. Herod wants to kill you.”
He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I'm driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work.'[fn]
“Yet it is necessary that I travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
One Sabbath, when he went in to eat[fn] at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, they were watching him closely.
In response, Jesus asked the law experts and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? ”
And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? ”
“The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,' and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid.
“And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
“At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.'
“But without exception[fn] they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.'
“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.'
“So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.'
“ ‘Master,' the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there's still room.'
“Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.
“Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him,
And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field[fn] and go after the lost one until he finds it?
“and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep! '
“When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost! '
“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.' So he distributed the assets[fn] to them.
“Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living.
“After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.[fn]
“Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
“He longed to eat his fill from[fn] the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one would give him anything.
“I'll get up, go to my father, and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.
The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.'
“But the father told his servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
“because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! ' So they began to celebrate.
“Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
“‘Your brother is here,' he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'[fn]
“Then he became angry and didn't want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
“But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends.
“ ‘Son,'[fn] he said to him, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
“But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' ”
Now he said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions.
“So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.'
“So he summoned each one of his master's debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master? ' he asked the first one.
“ ‘A hundred measures of olive oil,' he said.
“ ‘Take your invoice,' he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.'
“Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe? '
“ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,' he said.
“ ‘Take your invoice,' he told him, ‘and write eighty.'
“The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people.[fn]
“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth[fn] so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.
“Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.
“And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?
“No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him.
And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God's sight.
“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it.[fn]
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.
“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
“There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day.
“He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.
“One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side.[fn] The rich man also died and was buried.
“And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.
“‘Father Abraham! ' he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame! '
“ ‘Son,'[fn] Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.
“Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.'
“because I have five brothers — to warn them, so that they won't also come to this place of torment.'
“But he told him, ‘If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.' ”
“It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
“Be on your guard. If your brother sins,[fn] rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
“And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,' you must forgive him.”
“If you have faith the size of[fn] a mustard seed,” the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
“Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink'?
“In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we've only done our duty.' ”
When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were going, they were cleansed.
When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable;
Then he told the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won't see it.
“They will say to you, ‘See there! ' or ‘See here! ' Don't follow or run after them.
“But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
“People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
“But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.
“On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back.
“I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.
“Where, Lord? ” they asked him.
He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”
“And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.'
“For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or respect people,
“Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them?[fn]
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
“The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself:[fn] ‘God, I thank you that I'm not like other people — greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
People were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to me, and don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
“You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”
When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
“who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”
Then he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.
“For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, spit on;
They understood none of these things. The meaning of the saying[fn] was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
Then those in front told him to keep quiet,[fn] but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me! ”
Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man.
So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way.
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.”
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I'll pay back four times as much.”
“Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.
As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.
Therefore he said, “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king[fn] and then to return.
“He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas,[fn] and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.'
“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don't want this man to rule over us.'
“At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to, so that he could find out how much they had made in business.
“ ‘Well done, good[fn] servant! ' he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.'
“And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth
“because I was afraid of you since you're a harsh man: you collect what you didn't deposit and reap what you didn't sow.'
“He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn't deposit and reaping what I didn't sow,
“why, then, didn't you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.'
“So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'
“ ‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.
“But bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter[fn] them in my presence.' ”
As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples
and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.
Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it.
Blessed is the King who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heaven!
saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes.
“For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.
“They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”
and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves! ”
Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill him,
but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people were captivated by what they heard.
One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders, came
and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority? ”
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Now he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time.
“At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
“He sent yet another servant, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
“So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
“He will come and kill those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”
But when they heard this they said, “That must never happen! ”
Then the scribes and the chief priests looked for a way to get their hands on him that very hour, because they knew he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
They watched closely and sent spies who pretended to be righteous,[fn] so that they could catch him in what he said, to hand him over to the governor's rule and authority.
They questioned him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and you don't show partiality[fn] but teach truthfully the way of God.
“Show me a denarius.[fn] Whose image and inscription does it have? ”
“Caesar's,” they said.
“Well then,” he told them, “give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
They were not able to catch him in what he said in public, and being amazed at his answer, they became silent.
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother.
“But those who are counted worthy to take part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
“For they can no longer die, because they are like angels and are children of God, since they are children of the resurrection.
“Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
“Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.
“They devour widows' houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”
As some were talking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said,
“Teacher,” they asked him, “so when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? ”
“When you hear of wars and rebellions,[fn] don't be alarmed. Indeed, it is necessary that these things take place first, but the end won't come right away.”
Then he told them, “Nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
“There will be violent earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven.
“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.
“for I will give you such words and a wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
“You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you.
“Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. Those inside the city must leave it, and those who are in the country must not enter it,
“Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for there will be great distress in the land[fn] and wrath against this people.
“Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
“People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
“But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is near.”
“In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize[fn] that the kingdom of God is near.
“But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength[fn] to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”
The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put him to death, because they were afraid of the people.
He went away and discussed with the chief priests and temple police how he could hand him over to them.
So he accepted the offer and started looking for a good opportunity to betray him to them when the crowd was not present.
Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
“Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover with my disciples? ” '
Then he said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.
And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[fn]
So they began to argue among themselves which of them it could be who was going to do it.
But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them have themselves called[fn] ‘Benefactors.'
“It is not to be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you should become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving.
“so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
“But I have prayed for you[fn] that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
He also said to them, “When I sent you out without money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals, did you lack anything? ”
“Not a thing,” they said.
Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a money-bag should take it, and also a traveling bag. And whoever doesn't have a sword should sell his robe and buy one.
“For I tell you, what is written must be fulfilled in me:[fn] And he was counted among the lawless. Yes, what is written about me is coming to its fulfillment.”
He went out and made his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.
Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.[fn]
When he got up from prayer and came to the disciples, he found them sleeping, exhausted from their grief.
“Why are you sleeping? ” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you won't fall into temptation.”
While he was still speaking, suddenly a mob came, and one of the Twelve named Judas was leading them. He came near Jesus to kiss him,
Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal?[fn]
“Every day while I was with you in the temple, you never laid a hand on me. But this is your hour — and the dominion of darkness.”
They seized him, led him away, and brought him into the high priest's house. Meanwhile Peter was following at a distance.
They lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, and Peter sat among them.
When a servant saw him sitting in the light, and looked closely at him, she said, “This man was with him too.”
After a little while, someone else saw him and said, “You're one of them too.”
“Man, I am not! ” Peter said.
About an hour later, another kept insisting, “This man was certainly with him, since he's also a Galilean.”
But Peter said, “Man, I don't know what you're talking about! ” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. So Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.”
When daylight came, the elders[fn] of the people, both the chief priests and the scribes, convened and brought him before their Sanhedrin.
They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”
Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds for charging this man.”
But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he started even to here.”
Finding that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.
Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle[fn] performed by him.
Then Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt, mocked him, dressed him in bright clothing, and sent him back to Pilate.
That very day Herod and Pilate became friends.[fn] Previously, they had been enemies.
and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who misleads the people. But in fact, after examining him in your presence, I have found no grounds to charge this man with those things you accuse him of.
“Neither has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death.
(He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)
But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified, and their voices[fn] won out.
and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.
As they led him away, they seized Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, and laid the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.
A large crowd of people followed him, including women who were mourning and lamenting him.
But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.
“Look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the women without children, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed! '
“Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us! ' and to the hills, ‘Cover us! '
When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.
The people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing: “He saved others; let him save himself if this is God's Messiah, the Chosen One! ”
Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at[fn] him: “Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us! ”
“We are punished justly, because we're getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last.
All the crowds that had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, went home, striking their chests.
But all who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.
Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.[fn]
The women who had come with him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how his body was placed.
Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes.
So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground.
“Why are you looking for the living among the dead? ” asked the men.
“saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day'? ”
Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest.
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things.
Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths.[fn] So he went away, amazed at what had happened.
Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles[fn] from Jerusalem.
And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus himself came near and began to walk along with them.
Then he asked them, “What is this dispute that you're having[fn] with each other as you are walking? ” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged.
The one named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that happened there in these days? ”
“What things? ” he asked them.
So they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people,
“and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him.
“But we were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it's the third day since these things happened.
“and when they didn't find his body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.
“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn't see him.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow[fn] to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
“Wasn't it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory? ”
Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.
They came near the village where they were going, and he gave the impression that he was going farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us, because it's almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
It was as he reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight.
They said to each other, “Weren't our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us? ”
That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together,
Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
As they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst. He said to them, “Peace to you! ”
“Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
But while they still were amazed and in disbelief because of their joy, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat? ”
He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
He also said to them, “This is what is written:[fn] The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead the third day,
“and repentance for[fn] forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Then he led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.
(John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.' ”)
This was John's testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you? ”
“What then? ” they asked him. “Are you Elijah? ”
“I am not,” he said.
“Are you the Prophet? ”
“No,” he answered.
So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren't the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet? ”
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him.
“I didn't know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on — he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for? ”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying? ”
“Come and you'll see,” he replied. So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.[fn]
He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah”[fn] (which is translated “the Christ”),
The next day Jesus[fn] decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.”
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth? ” Nathanael asked him.
“Come and see,” Philip answered.
Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
“How do you know me? ” Nathanael asked.
“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.
Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”
Then he said, “Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
“What has this concern of yours to do with me,[fn] woman? ” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”
Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.”[fn] And they did.
When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from — though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom
and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.”
Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
After this, he went down to Capernaum, together with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.
In the temple he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting there.
After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers' coins and overturned the tables.
He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace! ”[fn]
Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build,[fn] and will you raise it up in three days? ”
So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made.
and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.
This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,[fn] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“How can anyone be born when he is old? ” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born? ”
Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
“Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.
“The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
“Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony.
“If I have told you about earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
“No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven — the Son of Man.[fn]
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
“This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
“For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it,[fn] so that his deeds may not be exposed.
After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent time with them and baptized.
John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized,
So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing — and everyone is going to him.”
John responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.
“He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom's friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly[fn] at the groom's voice. So this joy of mine is complete.
The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms.[fn] The one who comes from heaven is above all.
When Jesus[fn] learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,' you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”
“Sir,” said the woman, “you don't even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water'?
“You aren't greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”
“I don't have a husband,” she answered.
“You have correctly said, ‘I don't have a husband,' ” Jesus said.
“For you've had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
“Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
“But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth.[fn] Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him.
Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want? ” or “Why are you talking with her? ”
“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them.
“The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.
“I sent you to reap what you didn't labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from[fn] their labor.”
So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.
And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”[fn]
When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything he did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.
He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.
When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.
“Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what[fn] Jesus said to him and departed.
The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household.
When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well? ”
Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath,
and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”
After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn't happen to you.”
Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus[fn] because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[fn] does, the Son likewise does these things.
“For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.
“And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.
“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
“Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
“For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself.
“and come out — those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
“I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
“There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.
“John[fn] was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
“The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven't seen his form.
“You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.
“I have come in my Father's name, and yet you don't accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
“How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don't seek the glory that comes from the only God?
So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat? ”
“There's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish — but what are they for so many? ”
Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated — so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.
So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.
Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them.
After they had rowed about three or four miles,[fn] they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.
Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.
The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat.[fn] They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here? ”
Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw[fn] the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Jesus replied, “This is the work of God — that you believe in the one he has sent.”
“What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you? ” they asked. “What are you going to perform?
“For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.
“Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.
“For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
They were saying, “Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven'? ”
“It is written in the Prophets: And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to me —
“This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.
“The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day,
“Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
“This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna[fn] your ancestors ate — and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”
“The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn't help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
“But there are some among you who don't believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not[fn] believe and the one who would betray him.)
He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”
From that moment[fn] many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him.
After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since he did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him.
So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing.
“For no one does anything in secret while he's seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”
After his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but secretly.
And there was a lot of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He's a good man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he's deceiving the people.”
When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach.
“The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
“Didn't Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me? ”
“This is why Moses has given you circumcision — not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers — and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
“Yet, look, he's speaking publicly and they're saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authorities know he is the Messiah?
As he was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don't know him;
Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.
However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won't perform more signs than this man has done, will he? ”
The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants[fn] to arrest him.
Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time. Then I'm going to the one who sent me.
Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does he intend to go that we won't find him? He doesn't intend to go to the Jewish people dispersed[fn] among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he?
“What is this remark he made: ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come'? ”
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me[fn] and drink.
“Doesn't the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David's offspring[fn] and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived? ”
Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn't you bring him? ”
“Our law doesn't judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he's doing, does it? ”
“You aren't from Galilee too, are you? ” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center.
When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”
When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center.
“No one, Lord,”[fn] she answered.
“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]
“Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I'm going. But you don't know where I come from or where I'm going.
“And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.
“I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
Then they asked him, “Where is your Father? ”
“You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”
He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
Then he said to them again, “I'm going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I'm going, you cannot come.”
“You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
“Who are you? ” they questioned.
“Exactly what I've been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them.
“I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him — these things I tell the world.”
So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things.
“The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”
“We are descendants[fn] of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free'? ”
“I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father;[fn] so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”
“Our father is Abraham,” they replied.
“If you were Abraham's children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did.
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn't come on my own, but he sent me.
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature,[fn] because he is a liar and the father of lies.
The Jews responded to him, “Aren't we right in saying that you're a Samaritan and have a demon? ”
“I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me.
Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.'
“Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be? ”
“You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don't know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word.
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? ”
After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes.
“Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.
His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn't this the one who used to sit begging? ”
He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.' So when I went and washed I received my sight.”
Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight.
“He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn't keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs? ” And there was a division among them.
The Jews did not believe this about him — that he was blind and received sight — until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.
They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see? ”
So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
“I already told you,” he said, “and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don't want to become his disciples too, do you? ”
“This is an amazing thing! ” the man told them. “You don't know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.
“We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him.
“You were born entirely in sin,” they replied, “and are you trying to teach us? ” Then they threw him out.
Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man? ”[fn]
Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren't blind too, are we? ”
“Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.
“The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
“When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice.
“All who came before me[fn] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them.
“I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.
“A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
“The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them[fn] and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.
“just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
“But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.
“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and he's crazy. Why do you listen to him? ”
“I did tell you and you don't believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father's name testify about me.
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
“My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
“We aren't stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you — being a man — make yourself God.”
“If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods' — and the Scripture cannot be broken —
“do you say, ‘You are blaspheming' to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?
“But if I am doing them and you don't believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand[fn] that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”
So he departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there.
Many came to him and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.”
Now a man was sick — Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.
“Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you're going there again? ”
He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm on my way to wake him up.”
“I'm glad for you that I wasn't there so that you may believe. But let's go to him.”
Then Thomas (called “Twin”[fn]) said to his fellow disciples, “Let's go too so that we may die with him.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.
Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to cry there.
When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved[fn] in his spirit and troubled.
But some of them said, “Couldn't he who opened the blind man's eyes also have kept this man from dying? ”
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me.
The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”
So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs?
“If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
“You're not considering that it is to your[fn] advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.”
Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover.
They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? He won't come to the festival, will he? ”
The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.
So they gave a dinner for him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him.
Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus's feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
He didn't say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.
Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.
because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them[fn] and believing in Jesus.
they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting:
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord — the King of Israel! ”
His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.[fn]
So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”
“The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
“If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
“Now my soul is troubled. What should I say — Father, save me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour.
“Father, glorify your name.”[fn]
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man? ”
Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn't overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn't know where he's going.
“While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.
This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said:[fn]
Lord, who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so that they would not see with their eyes
or understand with their hearts,
and turn,
and I would heal them.
Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue.
Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me.
“If anyone hears my words and doesn't keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
“The one who rejects me and doesn't receive my sayings has this as his judge:[fn] The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
“For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.
“I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot's son,[fn] to betray him.
Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God.
So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself.
Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.
Jesus answered him, “What I'm doing you don't realize now, but afterward you will understand.”
“One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn't need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”
When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you?
“You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am.
“So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.
When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in his spirit and testified, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
Jesus replied, “He's the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” When he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot's son.[fn]
After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, “What you're doing, do quickly.”
When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.
“If God is glorified in him,[fn] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.
“Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.'
“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.
“If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“If you know me, you will also know[fn] my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father'?
“Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works.
“Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe[fn] because of the works themselves.
“Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
“Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor[fn] to be with you forever.
“He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be[fn] in you.
“In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too.
“The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it you're going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world? ”
Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
“The one who doesn't love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
“You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
“I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me.[fn]
“On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me.
“Get up; let's leave this place.
“Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.
“If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
“My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be[fn] my disciples.
“If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love.
“I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
“Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin.
“If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
“But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going? '
“about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me;
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.
“Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.
“In a little while, you will no longer see me; again in a little while, you will see me.”[fn]
Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he's telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me,' and, ‘Because I am going to the Father'? ”
Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me'?
“Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.
“So you also have sorrow[fn] now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.
“In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
“Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
“On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf.
“For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.[fn]
“I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
His disciples said, “Look, now you're speaking plainly and not using any figurative language.
“Now we know that you know everything and don't need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.”
“Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,
“This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent — Jesus Christ.
“Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.
“I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
“because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
“Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them.
“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect[fn] them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.
“While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction,[fn] so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.
“Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them.
“I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.
“May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be[fn] in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.
“I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
“Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me.
“I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”
After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.
Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples.
So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials[fn] from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you're seeking? ”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
“I am he,” Jesus told them.
Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)
Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up.
First they led him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard.
But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren't one of this man's disciples too, are you? ”
“I am not,” he said.
Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.
“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered him. “I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews gather, and I haven't spoken anything in secret.
Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren't one of his disciples too, are you? ”
He denied it and said, “I am not.”
Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
They answered him, “If this man weren't a criminal,[fn] we wouldn't have handed him over to you.”
Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.”
“It's not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared.
Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews? ”
“I'm not a Jew, am I? ” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done? ”
“You are a king then? ” Pilate asked.
“You say that I'm a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
“What is truth? ” said Pilate.
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him.
The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe.
And they kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews! ” and were slapping his face.
Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I'm bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging him.”
Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man! ”
When the chief priests and the temple servants[fn] saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify! ”
Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”
“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from? ” But Jesus did not give him an answer.
So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? ”
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge's seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic,[fn] Gabbatha).
It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.[fn] Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king! ”
Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.
So they said to one another, “Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special[fn] day). They requested that Pilate have the men's legs broken and that their bodies be taken away.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him.
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus — but secretly because of his fear of the Jews — asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus's body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away.
Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about seventy-five pounds[fn] of myrrh and aloes.
They took Jesus's body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.
There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it.
On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they've put him! ”
The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first.
Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there.
The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself.
The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed.
She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus's body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.
They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? ”
“Because they've taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don't know where they've put him.”
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.
“Don't cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord! ” And she told them what[fn] he had said to her.
When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
So the other disciples were telling him, “We've seen the Lord! ”
But he said to them, “If I don't see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don't be faithless, but believe.”
Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.[fn] Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,[fn] and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”[fn]), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples were together.
“I'm going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We're coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
“Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you'll find some.” So they did,[fn] and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.
The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord! ”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea.
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread.
So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish — 153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me? ”
Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me? ” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.
“Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don't want to go.”
He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”
So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that's going to betray you? ”
This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books[fn] that would be written.
After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
While he was[fn] with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father's promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about;
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.
They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”
When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
They all were continually united in prayer,[fn] along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters[fn] — the number of people who were together was about a hundred twenty — and said,
Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.
This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, “Field of Blood”).
“For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
Let his dwelling become desolate;
let no one live in it; and
Let someone else take his position.
“Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us —
So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know everyone's hearts; show which of these two you have chosen
“to take the place[fn] in this apostolic ministry that Judas left to go where he belongs.”
Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.
Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.
Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues,[fn] as the Spirit enabled them.
When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded and amazed, saying,[fn] “Look, aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?
“Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
“Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts),
“Cretans and Arabs — we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.”
They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean? ”
Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words.
“And it will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all people;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
“I will even pour out my Spirit
on my servants in those days, both men and women
and they will prophesy.
“I will display wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below:
blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.
“The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know.
“Though he was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you used[fn] lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him.
“Therefore my heart is glad
and my tongue rejoices.
Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope,
“Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
“Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants[fn] on his throne.
“Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear.
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do? ”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt[fn] generation! ”
So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.
They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number[fn] those who were being saved.
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.[fn]
But Peter said, “I don't have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk! ”
Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.
So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God.
and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.
While he[fn] was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon's Colonnade.
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him.
“By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.
“And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did.
“that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.
“In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.
“You are the sons[fn] of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.
While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them,
because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening.
But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men[fn] came to about five thousand.
with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family.
After they had Peter and John stand before them, they began to question them: “By what power or in what name have you done this? ”
Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders:[fn]
“let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing here before you healthy.
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.
saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John answered them, “Whether it's right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide;
After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.
“You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant:[fn]
Why do the Gentiles rage
and the peoples plot futile things?
“The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers assemble together
against the Lord and against his Messiah.
“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,
“And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness,
“while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly.
Now the entire group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common.
With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.
and laid them at the apostles' feet. This was then distributed to each person as any had need.
However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife's knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.
“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land?
“Wasn't it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn't it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”
When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard.
Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.
Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon's Colonnade.
Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers — multitudes of both men and women.
As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin — the full council of the Israelites — and sent orders to the jail to have them brought.
“We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”
As[fn] the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what would come of this.
Someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”
After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked,
“Didn't we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.”
“God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
“We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
“Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and came to nothing.
“After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following. He also perished, and all his followers were scattered.
“So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail;
“but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him.
After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.
Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
“Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.
This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch.
So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.
Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen's Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen.
But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.
Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin.
They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law.
“For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”
And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
“Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,
“and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.
“He didn't give him an inheritance in it — not even a foot of ground — but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.
“God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.
“I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.
“And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him
“and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.
“Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food.
“The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh.
“were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
“As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt
“At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God's sight. He was cared for in his father's home for three months.
“So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.
“When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian.
“The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other? '
“But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?
“When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
“After forty years had passed, an angel[fn] appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.
“I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.
“I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.
“This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge? — this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
“This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.
“He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He received living oracles to give to us.
“Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
“They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.
“God turned away and gave them up to worship the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
House of Israel, did you bring me offerings and sacrifices
for forty years in the wilderness?
“You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship.
So I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.
“Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, until the days of David.
“He found favor in God's sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God[fn] of Jacob.
“You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also.
“Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God! ”
They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him.
They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them! ” And after saying this, he fell asleep.
Saul agreed with putting him to death.
On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.
Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.
The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing.
For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and amazed the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great.
But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.
Even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he followed Philip everywhere and was amazed as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.
When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
“Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart's intent may be forgiven.
So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.[fn])
So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem
When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you're reading? ”
Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this:
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.
So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing.
Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest
and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? ”
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
“Here I am, Lord,” he replied.
“Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there.
“In a vision[fn] he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”
“And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.
Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
And after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time.
All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn't this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests? ”
But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him,
When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple.
Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.
Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
As Peter was traveling from place to place, he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.
Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed,”[fn] and immediately he got up.
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated Dorcas). She was always doing good works and acts of charity.
Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they led him to the room upstairs. And all the widows approached him, weeping and showing him the robes and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.
Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.
He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. He called the saints and widows and presented her alive.
He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God.
About three in the afternoon[fn] he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius.”
Staring at him in awe, he said, “What is it, Lord? ”
The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
When the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him.
The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon.[fn]
He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance.
He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth.
In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky.
“No, Lord! ” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.”
Again, a second time, the voice said to him, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.”
“Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.”
They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.”
The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.
“That's why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So may I ask why you sent for me? ”
“and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God's sight.
“Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner's house by the sea.'[fn]
“but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with him.
“We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree.
“not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.
The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
For they heard them speaking in tongues[fn] and declaring the greatness of God.
Then Peter responded,
“Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? ”
The apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
“I was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a trance, an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came to me.
“When I looked closely and considered it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
“At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were.
“The Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we went into the man's house.
“He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter.
“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning.
“If, then, God gave them the same gift that he also gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God? ”
When they heard this they became silent. And they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has given repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles.”
Now those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.
But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks[fn] also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged all of them to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts,
for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And large numbers of people were added to the Lord.
and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.
When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up! ” And the chains fell off his wrists.
“Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.”
So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision.
After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him.
When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”
As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many had assembled and were praying.
She recognized Peter's voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate.
Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.
Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place.
After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king's bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king's country.
On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them.
At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.
After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to[fn] Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
As they were worshiping[fn] the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.
He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.
But Saul — also called Paul — filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas
and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won't you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?
“Now, look, the Lord's hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
They continued their journey from Perga and reached Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”
Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said, “Fellow Israelites, and you who fear God, listen!
“The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, made the people prosper during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty[fn] arm.
“and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.
“This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
“Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
“After removing him, he raised up David as their king and testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my will.'
“Brothers and sisters, children of Abraham's race, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the word of this salvation has been sent.
“Since the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him or the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they have fulfilled their words by condemning him.
“Though they found no grounds for the death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him killed.
“And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.
“God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm:
You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.[fn]
“Therefore he also says in another passage, You will not let your Holy One see decay.
“For David, after serving God's purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed,
“Everyone who believes is justified[fn] through him from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.
“Look, you scoffers,
marvel and vanish away,
because I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will never believe,
even if someone were to explain it to you.”
After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what Paul was saying, insulting him.
Paul and Barnabas boldly replied, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.
When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.
But the Jews incited the prominent God-fearing women and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.
In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.
But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles.
When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them,
they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside.
He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,
Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet! ” And he jumped up and began to walk around.
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.
The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
“People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.
“although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”
Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.
Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.
After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,
strengthening the[fn] disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
After Paul and Barnabas had engaged them in serious argument and debate, Paul and Barnabas and some others were appointed to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this issue.
When they had been sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters.
When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.
After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you,[fn] that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe.
“And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us.
The whole assembly became silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul describe all the signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
“After these things I will return
and rebuild David's fallen tent.
I will rebuild its ruins
and set it up again,
“so that the rest of humanity
may seek the Lord —
even all the Gentiles
who are called by my name —
declares the Lord
who makes these things
“but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood.
Then the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to select men who were among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers.
They wrote:
“From the apostles and the elders, your brothers,
To the brothers and sisters among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
“we have unanimously decided to select men and send them to you along with our dearly loved Barnabas and Paul,
“Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who will personally report the same things by word of mouth.
“For it was the Holy Spirit's decision — and ours — not to place further burdens on you beyond these requirements:
“that you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things.
Farewell.”
So they were sent off and went down to Antioch, and after gathering the assembly, they delivered the letter.
Both Judas and Silas, who were also prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers and sisters and strengthened them with a long message.
But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord.
But Paul insisted that they should not take along this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.
Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek.
Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.
As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe.
They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us! ”
On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.
After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you[fn] a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.”
She did this for many days.
Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her! ” And it came out right away.
When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews
“and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”
The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains came loose.
When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.
The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.”
He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.
He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.
But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”
So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town.
After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia's house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.
After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”
Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.
But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason's house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.
When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,
“and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king — Jesus.”
As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.
But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting[fn] the crowds.
Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there.
Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off[fn] trying to say? ”
Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities” — because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
“For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.' Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it — he is Lord of heaven and earth — does not live in shrines made by hands.
“Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.
“From one man[fn] he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.
“He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
“For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.'
“Since, then, we are God's offspring, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We'd like to hear from you again about this.”
However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
where he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,
and since they were of the same occupation, tentmakers by trade, he stayed with them and worked.
He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word[fn] and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.
When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent.[fn] From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.
Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don't be afraid, but keep on speaking and don't be silent.
“For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”
While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the tribunal.
“But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”
And they all[fn] seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.
After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.
but he said farewell and added,[fn] “I'll come back to you again, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, then went down to Antioch.
After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit,[fn] he was speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only John's baptism.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside[fn] and explained the way of God to him more accurately.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples
And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues[fn] and to prophesy.
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
so that even facecloths or aprons[fn] that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.
Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches! ”
The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul — but who are you? ”
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.
When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.
while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit[fn] to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I've been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.”
After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.
“You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.
“Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin — the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”
When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! ”
So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's traveling companions.
Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture[fn] into the amphitheater.
Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.
When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great[fn] Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?
“Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.
“So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.
“In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.”
After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.
And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece
but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.
and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.
But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don't be alarmed, because he's alive.”
After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left.
“serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.
“You know that I did not hesitate to proclaim anything to you that was profitable and to teach you publicly and from house to house.
“I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit,[fn] not knowing what I will encounter there,
“except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.
“But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course[fn] and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God's grace.
“And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God,[fn] which he purchased with his own blood.
“Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.
“Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.
“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
“You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.
After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it,[fn] we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.
When our time had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,
When we completed our voyage[fn] from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.
The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
He came to us, took Paul's belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.' ”
When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.
Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.
After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
“Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.
“With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that[fn] they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,
shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What's more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”
The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.
“Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness? ”
When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic,[fn] they became even quieter.
“I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail,
“as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
“As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.
“I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? '
“came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.' And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.
“And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth,
“And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
“and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'
“But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten.
“And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval[fn] and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.'
They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live! ”
As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air,
As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned? ”
The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.
So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.
The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him[fn] and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene. He brought Paul down and placed him before them.
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You are sitting there judging me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law are you ordering me to be struck? ”
When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead! ”
When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
The shouting grew loud, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and argued vehemently, “We find nothing evil in this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him? ”[fn]
The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”
These men went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a solemn curse that we won't eat anything until we have killed Paul.
But the son of Paul's sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul.
So he took him, brought him to the commander, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.”
The commander took him by the hand, led him aside, and inquired privately, “What is it you have to report to me? ”
“Don't let them persuade you, because there are more than forty of them lying in ambush — men who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, waiting for your consent.”
He summoned two of his centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready with seventy cavalry and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight.[fn]
When this man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I arrived with my troops and rescued him because I learned that he is a Roman citizen.
When these men entered Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.
After he[fn] read it, he asked what province he was from. When he learned he was from Cilicia,
he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers also get here.” He ordered that he be kept under guard in Herod's palace.[fn]
Five days later Ananias the high priest came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. These men presented their case against Paul to the governor.
When Paul was called in, Tertullus began to accuse him and said, “We enjoy great peace because of you, and reforms are taking place for the benefit of this nation because of your foresight.
“We acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with utmost gratitude.
“For we have found this man to be a plague, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the Roman world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
“They didn't find me arguing with anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or anywhere in the city.
“But I admit this to you: I worship the God of my ancestors according to the Way, which they call a sect, believing everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the prophets.
“I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection,[fn] both of the righteous and the unrighteous.
“It is they who ought to be here before you to bring charges, if they have anything against me.
He ordered that the centurion keep Paul under guard, though he could have some freedom, and that he should not prevent any of his friends from meeting[fn] his needs.
Several days later, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and listened to him on the subject of faith in Christ Jesus.
Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and replied, “Leave for now, but when I have an opportunity I'll call for you.”
At the same time he was also hoping that Paul would offer him money.[fn] So he sent for him quite often and conversed with him.
The chief priests and the leaders of the Jews presented their case against Paul to him; and they appealed,
When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges that they were not able to prove.
Paul replied, “I am standing at Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as even you yourself know very well.
“If then I did anything wrong and am deserving of death, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar! ”
Several days later, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid a courtesy call on Festus.
“When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented their case and asked that he be condemned.
“Instead they had some disagreements with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man Paul claimed to be alive.
Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.”
“Tomorrow you will hear him,” he replied.
So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the military commanders and prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in.
Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all men present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has appealed to me concerning him, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he should not live any longer.
“I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination is over, I may have something to write.
“For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”
“especially since you are very knowledgeable about all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
“the promise our twelve tribes hope to reach as they earnestly serve him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.
“I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I was in agreement against them.
“In all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to make them blaspheme. Since I was terribly enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
“I was traveling to Damascus under these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests.
“King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me.
“But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.
“to open their eyes so that they may turn[fn] from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
“Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
“To this very day, I have had help from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would take place —
“that the Messiah would suffer, and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
But Paul replied, “I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. On the contrary, I'm speaking words of truth and good judgment.
“For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak boldly to him. For I am convinced that none of these things has escaped his notice, since this was not done in a corner.
“I wish before God,” replied Paul, “that whether easily or with difficulty,[fn] not only you but all who listen to me today might become as I am — except for these chains.”
and when they had left they talked with each other and said, “This man is not doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”
After sailing through the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.
Sailing slowly for many days, with difficulty we arrived off Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to approach it, we sailed along the south side of Crete off Salmone.
By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous. Since the Day of Atonement[fn] was already over, Paul gave his advice
and told them, “Men, I can see that this voyage is headed toward disaster and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.”
But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said.
Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to set sail from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor on Crete facing the southwest and northwest, and to winter there.
Since the ship was caught and unable to head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss.
“Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship.
“and said, ‘Don't be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.'
Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow.
Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
After he said these things and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all of them, and after he broke it, he began to eat.
After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach.
But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow jammed fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up by the pounding of the waves.
The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore.
The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.
As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.
They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
Publius's father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.
After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
From there, after making a circuit along the coast,[fn] we reached Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and the second day we came to Puteoli.
There we found brothers and sisters and were invited to stay a week with them. And so we came to Rome.
Now the brothers and sisters from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.
“For this reason I've asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I'm wearing this chain.”
After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
“when he said,
Go to these people and say:
You will always be listening,
but never understanding;
and you will always be looking,
but never perceiving.
“For the hearts of these people
have grown callous,
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their heart
and turn,
and I would heal them.
“Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”[fn]
Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I don't want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry[fn] among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,[fn] because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,
For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.
Do you think — anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same — that you will escape God's judgment?
Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing[fn] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment is revealed.
eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;
but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;
but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
For all who sin without the law will also perish without the law, and all who sin under[fn] the law will be judged by the law.
and know his will, and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law,
an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having the embodiment of knowledge and truth in the law —
A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision.
On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart — by the Spirit, not the letter.[fn] That person's praise is not from people but from God.
Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar, as it is written:
That you may be justified in your words
and triumph when you judge.
And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.[fn]
God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.
Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.
And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith[fn] while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also.
And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.
If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified,
This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants — not only to the one who is of the law[fn] but also to the one who is of Abraham's faith. He is the father of us all.
As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.
He did not weaken in faith when he considered[fn] his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah's womb.
but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance,
For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die.
And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.[fn]
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression. He is a type of the Coming One.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.
And the gift is not like the one man's sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.[fn]
If by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.
For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness[fn] of life.
For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be[fn] in the likeness of his resurrection.
And do not offer any parts[fn] of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh.[fn] For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another. You belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.
But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law.
For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
but I see a different law in the parts of my body,[fn] waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.
For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,[fn]
Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through[fn] his Spirit who lives in you.
and if children, also heirs — heirs of God and coheirs with Christ — if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God's children.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.
Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits — we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us[fn] with inexpressible groanings.
For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?
Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.
For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.
For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth.
And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?
And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory —
And it will be in the place where they were told,
you are not my people,
there they will be called sons of the living God.
And just as Isaiah predicted:
If the Lord of Armies had not left us offspring,
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have been made like Gomorrah.
As it is written,
Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over
and a rock to trip over,
and the one who believes on him
will not be put to shame.
Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God concerning them[fn] is for their salvation.
Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God's righteousness.
On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim:
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him.
But I ask, “Did they not hear? ” Yes, they did:
Their voice has gone out to the whole earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.
And Isaiah says boldly,
I was found
by those who were not looking for me;
I revealed myself
to those who were not asking for me.
But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life!
as it is written,
God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that cannot see
and ears that cannot hear,
to this day.
And David says,
Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a pitfall and a retribution to them.
Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and their backs be bent continually.
Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!
Now if the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root[fn] of the cultivated olive tree,
Therefore, consider God's kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God's kindness toward you — if you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these — the natural branches — be grafted into their own olive tree?
And in this way all[fn] Israel will be saved, as it is written,
The Deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now[fn] receive mercy.
Oh, the depth of the riches
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments
and untraceable his ways!
For from him and through him
and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever. Amen.
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval.
Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience.
And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God's servants, continually attending to these tasks.[fn]
The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal;[fn] do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you[fn] to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.
Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord.[fn] Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God.
Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.
But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.[fn]
For it is written,
As I live, says the Lord,
every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will give praise to God.
I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean.
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.
For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
Now may the God who gives[fn] endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus,
so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
Therefore welcome one another, just as[fn] Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.
and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and I will sing praise to your name.
And again, Isaiah says,
The root of Jesse will appear,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
the Gentiles will hope in him.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.
For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles,
by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.[fn]
but, as it is written,
Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.
whenever I travel to Spain.[fn] For I hope to see you when I pass through and to be assisted by you for my journey there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while.
because Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs.
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayers to God on my behalf.
Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to[fn] Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
So you should welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever matter she may require your help. For indeed she has been a benefactor of many — and of me also.
who risked their own necks for my life. Not only do I thank them, but so do all the Gentile churches.
Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has worked very hard in the Lord.
Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them.
Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them,
because such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites.[fn] They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.
Timothy, my coworker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow countrymen, greet you.
Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.[fn]
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation about Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept silent for long ages
To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord — both their Lord and ours.
He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.
I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't recall if I baptized anyone else.
For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.
Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,
because God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something,
It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us — our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption —
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom[fn] but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,
But as it is written,
What no eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no human heart has conceived —
God has prepared these things for those who love him.
Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
For who knows a person's thoughts[fn] except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.[fn]
because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife[fn] among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given.
Now he who plants and he who waters are one,[fn] and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
each one's work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one's work.
Don't you yourselves know that you are God's temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.
So don't judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.
Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.” The purpose is that none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person over another.
For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it?
You are already full! You are already rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us — and I wish you did reign, so that we could also reign with you!
For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: We have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people.
Up to the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty; we are poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless;
we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk, but the power of those who are arrogant.
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated[fn] among the Gentiles — a man is sleeping with his father's wife.
And you are arrogant! Shouldn't you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this?
When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.[fn]
Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world.
If any of you has a dispute against another, how dare you take it to court before the unrighteous,[fn] and not before the saints?
Or don't you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases?
Instead, you yourselves do wrong and cheat — and you do this to brothers and sisters!
And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
“Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
But because sexual immorality is so common,[fn] each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband.
A husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband.
A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.
Do not deprive one another — except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to[fn] prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
I wish that all people were as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one person has this gift, another has that.
But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband — and a husband is not to divorce his wife.
But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband.
For the unbelieving husband is made holy by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband.[fn] Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy.
Let each one live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him.[fn] This is what I command in all the churches.
Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter. Keeping God's commands is what matters.
Were you called while a slave? Don't let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.[fn]
This is what I mean, brothers and sisters: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none,
those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they didn't own anything,
and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.
and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world — how she may please her husband.
I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
If any man thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, if she is getting beyond the usual age for marriage, and he feels he should marry — he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.
But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep her as his fiancée, will do well.
So, then, he who marries his fiancée does well, but he who does not marry will do better.[fn]
About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,”[fn] and that “there is no God but one.”
For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth — as there are many “gods” and many “lords” —
yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him.
However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ.
Don't we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife[fn] like the other apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas?
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?
Isn't he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop.
In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law — though I myself am not under the law[fn] — to win those under the law.
Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea,
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.
Don't become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.[fn]
Let us not commit sexual immorality as some of them did,[fn] and in a single day twenty-three thousand people died.
No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
No, but I do say that what they[fn] sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons!
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord's table and the table of demons.
If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience.
But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience.[fn]
Now I praise you[fn] because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.
Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved.
For if a woman doesn't cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her head be covered.
A man should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. So too, woman is the glory of man.
For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.
For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
For at the meal, each one eats his own supper.[fn] So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!
Don't you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread,
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body[fn] and blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.
For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body,[fn] eats and drinks judgment on himself.
Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person.
One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.
For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body — so also is Christ.
For we were all baptized by[fn] one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
And if the ear should say, “Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect,
So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues.[fn]
If I speak human or angelic tongues[fn] but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast[fn] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
For now we see only a reflection[fn] as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening,[fn] encouragement, and consolation.
In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air.
There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning.
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner[fn] to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.
So also you — since you are zealous for spiritual gifts,[fn] seek to excel in building up the church.
What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding.
yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
It is written in the law,
I will speak to this people
by people of other tongues
and by the lips of foreigners,
and even then, they will not listen to me,
says the Lord.
If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”
If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret.
But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.
For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.
the women[fn] should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says.
So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand
and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.
For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.[fn]
Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ — whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised.
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.
When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Come to your senses[fn] and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.
And as for what you sow — you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.
There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.
There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption;
sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.
And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.
When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.
and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.
because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me[fn] — yet many oppose me.
Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.
Brothers and sisters, you know the household of Stephanas: They are the firstfruits of Achaia and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you
I am delighted to have Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus present, because these men have made up for your absence.
The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you greetings warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, and Timothy our[fn] brother:
To the church of God at Corinth, with all the saints who are throughout Achaia.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer.
And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
We don't want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia. We were completely overwhelmed — beyond our strength — so that we even despaired of life itself.
He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again
while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our[fn] behalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many.
Indeed, this is our boast: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with godly sincerity and purity, not by human wisdom but by God's grace.
For we are writing nothing to you other than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely —
just as you have partially understood us — that we are your reason for pride, just as you also are ours in the day of our[fn] Lord Jesus.
Because of this confidence, I planned to come to you first, so that you could have a second benefit,[fn]
and to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then come to you again from Macedonia and be helped by you on my journey to Judea.
Now when I planned this, was I of two minds? Or what I plan, do I plan in a purely human[fn] way so that I say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you — Silvanus,[fn] Timothy, and I — did not become “Yes and no.” On the contrary, in him it is always “Yes.”
For every one of God's promises is “Yes” in him. Therefore, through him we also say “Amen” to the glory of God.
Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ, and who has anointed us.
He has also put his seal on us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.
For if I cause you pain, then who will cheer me other than the one being hurt by me?[fn]
I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn't have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours.
For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart — not to cause you pain, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.
As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief.
I wrote for this purpose: to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything.
Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven — if I have forgiven anything — it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ,
When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord opened a door for me,
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ's triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.
For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things?
He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it.
We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end[fn] of the glory of what was being set aside,
Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus's sake, so that Jesus's life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.
And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak.
For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you.
Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences.
We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart.
And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.
Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don't receive the grace of God in vain.”
For he says:
At an acceptable time I listened to you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.
See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!
by the word of truth,[fn] by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true;
as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see — we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed;
as grieving, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we[fn] are the temple of the living God, as God said:
I will dwell
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
Therefore, come out from among them
and be separate, says the Lord;
do not touch any unclean thing,
and I will welcome you.
And I will be a Father to you,
and you will be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.
So then, dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion[fn] in the fear of God.
I don't say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we[fn] had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within.
and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.
For even if I grieved you with my letter, I don't regret it. And if I regretted it — since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while —
So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.
For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth.
And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling.
During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord,
and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God's will.
So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace.
Now as you excel in everything — in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us[fn] — excel also in this act of grace.
I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.
And in this matter I am giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year not only to do something but also to want to do it.
Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have.
At the present time your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality.
As it is written: The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.
And not only that, but he was also appointed by the churches to accompany us with this gracious gift that we are administering for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
Indeed, we are giving careful thought to do what is right, not only before the Lord but also before people.
As for Titus, he is my partner and coworker for you; as for our brothers, they are the messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.
Therefore, show them proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you.
For I know your eagerness, and I boast about you to the Macedonians, “Achaia has been ready since last year,” and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, would be put to shame in that situation.[fn]
Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion.
The point is this:[fn] The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.
Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.
And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.
Now I, Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent.
and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Look at what is obvious.[fn] If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, let him remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we.
For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.
For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing.”
Let such a person consider this: What we are in our letters, when we are absent, we will also be in our actions when we are present.
For we don't dare classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding.
We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you.
For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ.
I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me![fn]
But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure[fn] devotion to Christ.
Even if I am untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have in every way made that clear to you in everything.
When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, since the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.
But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny[fn] an opportunity to those who want to be regarded as our equals in what they boast about.
So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.
toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
So I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.
Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
I know that this man — whether in the body or out of the body I don't know; God knows —
was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak.
especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”
Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me.
So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I have been a fool; you forced it on me. You ought to have commended me, since I am not in any way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.
The signs of an apostle were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders and miracles.
Look, I am ready to come to you this third time. I will not burden you, since I am not seeking what is yours, but you. For children ought not save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
I will most gladly spend and be spent for you.[fn] If I love you more, am I to be loved less?
I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus didn't take advantage of you, did he? Didn't we walk in the same spirit and in the same footsteps?
I fear that when I come my God will again[fn] humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality they practiced.
This is the third time I am coming to you. Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
I gave a warning when I was present the second time, and now I give a warning while I am absent to those who sinned before and to all the rest: If I come again, I will not be lenient,
For he was crucified in weakness, but he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by God's power.
We rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray that you become fully mature.[fn]
This is why I am writing these things while absent, so that when I am there I may not have to deal harshly with you, in keeping with the authority the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
Paul, an apostle — not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead —
who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him![fn]
As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!
For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God's church and tried to destroy it.
I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
But when God, who from my mother's womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased
to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.[fn]
I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.
Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas,[fn] and I stayed with him fifteen days.
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain.
since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles.
When James, Cephas,[fn] and John — those recognized as pillars — acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.
For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party.
Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ,[fn] even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ[fn] and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will[fn] be justified.
But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter[fn] of sin? Absolutely not!
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body,[fn] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law? Or is it by believing what you heard —
Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.
My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God[fn] and thus cancel the promise.
There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements[fn] of the world.
But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again?
You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you.[fn] On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.
But it is always good to be pursued[fn] in a good manner — and not just when I am with you.
I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don't know what to do about you.
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.
For it is written,
Rejoice, childless woman,
unable to give birth.
Burst into song and shout,
you who are not in labor,
for the children of the desolate woman will be many,
more numerous than those
of the woman who has a husband.
But just as then the child born as a result of the flesh persecuted the one born as a result of the Spirit, so also now.
But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.”
For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery.
But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.
envy,[fn] drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things — as I warned you before — that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit,[fn] watching out for yourselves so that you also won't be tempted.
Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else.
May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God![fn]
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.
For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.[fn]
as a plan for the right time[fn] — to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.
In him we have also received an inheritance,[fn] because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will,
In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.
This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.
He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens —
far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given,[fn] not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him[fn] as head over everything for the church,
We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift —
At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.
For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh,
He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.[fn]
He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God's household,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
This was not made known to people[fn] in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.
This is so that God's multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope[fn] at your calling —
The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.
And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness.
Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.
From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts.
and to put on[fn] the new self, the one created according to God's likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.
And don't grieve God's Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him[fn] for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you[fn] in Christ.
and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of[fn] among you, as is proper for saints.
Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.
For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
for the fruit of the light[fn] consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth —
for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said:
Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.
And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:
speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord,
giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.
He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.
In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church,
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.
Fathers, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves, obey your human[fn] masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ.
And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
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.
For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.
Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit — which is the word of God.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.
Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant[fn] in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed.
I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.
Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus:
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.
Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart,[fn] and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment,
so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ.
Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word[fn] fearlessly.
What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice
because I know this will lead to my salvation[fn] through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don't know which one I should choose.
I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ — which is far better —
Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord,[fn] contending together for the faith of the gospel,
not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation — and this is from God.
For it has been granted to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,
since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.
If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death —
even to death on a cross.
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow —
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth —
and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world,
But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
But I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus — my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and minister to my need —
since he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was sick.
Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.
For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh —
although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ[fn] — the righteousness from God based on faith.
My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,
Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.
Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.
For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things.
Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.
So then, my dearly loved and longed for brothers and sisters, my joy and crown, in this manner stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.
Yes, I also ask you, true partner,[fn] to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.
Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally[fn] brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things.
Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it.
I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content — whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.
And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.
But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied,[fn] having received from Epaphroditus what you provided — a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.[fn]
for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints
that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God's grace.[fn]
For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven't stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,[fn]
so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God,
being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully
He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities —
all things have been created through him and for him.
He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.[fn]
But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him —
if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for his body, that is, the church.
We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person.
I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery — Christ.[fn]
For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.
being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.
Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.
You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,
when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.
He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.[fn]
Therefore, don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.[fn]
They don't hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.
All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines.
Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[fn]
When Christ, who is your[fn] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.
But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.
and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your[fn] Creator.
In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.
Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.
And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,[fn] singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.
Masters, deal with your slaves justly and fairly, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven.
At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains,
Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.
I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are[fn] and so that he may encourage your hearts.
He is coming with Onesimus, a faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, Barnabas's cousin (concerning whom you have received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),
and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These alone of the circumcised are my coworkers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured[fn] in everything God wills.
For I testify about him that he works hard[fn] for you, for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her home.
After this letter has been read at your gathering, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
And tell Archippus, “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.”
We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. You know how we lived among you for your benefit,
and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit.
For the word of the Lord rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place that your faith[fn] in God has gone out. Therefore, we don't need to say anything,
for they themselves report[fn] what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition.
We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.
For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God's gospel to you.
You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers.
we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe.
For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God's churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country, just as they did from the Jews
who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us. They displease God and are hostile to everyone,
So we wanted to come to you — even I, Paul, time and again — but Satan hindered us.
For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
And we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker[fn] in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith,
In fact, when we were with you, we told you in advance that we were going to experience affliction, and as you know, it happened.
For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.
But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love. He reported that you always have good memories of us and that you long to see us, as we also long to see you.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and affliction, we were encouraged about you through your faith.
as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith?
And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you.
May he make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.[fn]
Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God — as you are doing[fn] — do this even more.
This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.
Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more,
to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business,[fn] and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,
so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.[fn]
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,[fn] with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
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.
About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you.
When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.
So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you[fn] in the Lord and admonish you,
and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul, Silvanus,[fn] and Timothy:
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing.
Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God's churches — about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions that you are enduring.
It is clear evidence of God's righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God's kingdom, for which you also are suffering,
and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels,
when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don't know God and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord's presence and from his glorious strength
on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.
In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of his calling, and by his power fulfill your every desire to do good[fn] and your work produced by faith,
so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him: We ask you, brothers and sisters,
He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits[fn] in God's temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.
and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming.
The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan's working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie,
and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved.
But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because from the beginning[fn] God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, whether by what we said or what we wrote.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace,
In addition, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you,
We have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.
Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother or sister who is idle and does not live[fn] according to the tradition received from us.
we did not eat anyone's food free of charge; instead, we labored and toiled, working night and day, so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn't willing to work, he should not eat.”
Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and provide for themselves.[fn]
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope:
To Timothy, my true son in the faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the[fn] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God's plan, which operates by faith.
Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
for the sexually immoral and males who have sex with males, for slave traders, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching
even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief,
and the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” — and I am the worst of them.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only[fn] God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and have shipwrecked the faith.
Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.
for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle (I am telling the truth;[fn] I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.
Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel,
But she will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with good sense.
Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil's trap.
They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons.
Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently.
For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great:
He[fn] was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated in the Spirit,
seen by angels,
preached among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth.
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed.
But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness.
For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
For this reason we labor and strive,[fn] because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.
But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God.
The widow who is truly in need and left all alone has put her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers;
But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn't say.
If any[fn] believing woman has widows in her family, let her help them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it can help widows in genuine need.
The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor,[fn] especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.
Don't continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Some people's sins are obvious, preceding them to judgment, but the sins of others surface[fn] later.
Likewise, good works are obvious, and those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden.
All who are under the yoke as slaves should regard their own masters[fn] as worthy of all respect, so that God's name and his teaching will not be blasphemed.
Let those who have believing masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but serve them even better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved.[fn]
Teach and encourage these things.
If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness,
he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions,
and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.[fn]
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is a root[fn] of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you
God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords,
who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge.
To Timothy, my dearly loved son.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.
I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power,[fn] love, and sound judgment.
He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me[fn] until that day.
Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
You know that all those in the province of Asia have deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him on that day. You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus.
What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men[fn] who will be able to teach others also.
Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
They have departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and are ruining the faith of some.
Then they may come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions,
Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth. They are men who are corrupt in mind and worthless in regard to the faith.
But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be clear to all, as was the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres.
along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured — and yet the Lord rescued me from them all.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you,
and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God[fn] and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom:
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.
There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.[fn]
because Demas has deserted me, since he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments.
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
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.
Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.
To Titus, my true son in our common faith.
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town.
holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.
For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party.
and may not pay attention to Jewish myths and the commands of people who reject the truth.
To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience are defiled.
They claim to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age,
while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.
Proclaim these things; encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard[fn] you.
For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.
he saved us — not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.
But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.
For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.
Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.
Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother:
To Philemon our dear friend and coworker,
to Apphia our sister,[fn] to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home.
because I hear of your love for all the saints and the faith that you have in the Lord Jesus.
For I have great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
I appeal to you, instead, on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an elderly man[fn] and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus,
no longer as a slave, but more than a slave — as a dearly loved brother. He is especially so to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it — not to mention to you that you owe me even your very self.
Since I am confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
Meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, since I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe[fn] through him.
For to which of the angels did he ever say,
You are my Son;
today I have become your Father,[fn]
or again,
I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son?
Again, when he[fn] brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
And let all God's angels worship him.
but to[fn] the Son:
Your throne, God,
is forever and ever,
and the scepter of your kingdom
is a scepter of justice.
You have loved righteousness
and hated lawlessness;
this is why God, your God,
has anointed you
with the oil of joy
beyond your companions.[fn]
And:
In the beginning, Lord,
you established the earth,
and the heavens are the works of your hands;
you will roll them up like a cloak,[fn]
and they will be changed like clothing.
But you are the same,
and your years will never end.
For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding[fn] and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment,
At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will.
But we do see Jesus — made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God's grace he might taste death for everyone — crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.
For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God — for whom and through whom all things exist — should make the pioneer[fn] of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.[fn] That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,
Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death — that is, the devil —
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.
He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was in all God's household.
Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future.
But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast.[fn]
for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked to anger with that generation
and said, “They always go astray in their hearts,
and they have not known my ways.”
For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith.[fn]
For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all his works.
Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience,
For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his.
For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness.
No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.
In the same way, Christ did not exalt himself to become a high priest, but God who said to him,
You are my Son;
today I have become your Father,[fn]
also says in another place,
You are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
During his earthly life,[fn] he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.
Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God's revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.
But solid food is for the mature — for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.
Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God,
teaching about ritual washings,[fn] laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit,
and who have fallen away. This is because,[fn] to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt.
For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God.
But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.
Even though we are speaking this way, dearly loved friends, in your case we are confident of things that are better and that pertain to salvation.
For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love[fn] you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints — and by continuing to serve them.
so that you won't become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.
For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute.
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings,
and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace.
Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him.
The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people — that is, from their brothers and sisters — though they have also descended from Abraham.
But one without this[fn] lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.
In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives.
Now if perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be according to the order of Melchizedek and not according to the order of Aaron?
but he became a priest with an oath made by the one who said to him:
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever.”
Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office.
Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.
For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.
For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.
These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.
But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises.
For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,[fn]
and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least to the greatest of them.
By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.
For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves.
It had the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper's conscience.
They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of the new order.
But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.[fn] In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),
he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant,[fn] so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats,[fn] along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people,
In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.
According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but[fn] to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said:
You did not desire sacrifice and offering,
but you prepared a body for me.
After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law),
Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.
This is the covenant I will make with them
after those days,
the Lord says,
I will put my laws on their hearts
and write them on their minds,
he has inaugurated[fn] for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh) —
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.
How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane[fn] the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know the one who has said,
Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,[fn]
and again,
The Lord will judge his people.
Sometimes you were publicly exposed to taunts and afflictions, and at other times you were companions of those who were treated that way.
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.
By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.
Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.
By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she[fn] considered that the one who had promised was faithful.
Therefore, from one man — in fact, from one as good as dead — came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore.
These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.
If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son,
He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.[fn]
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned[fn] the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.
By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn't fear the king's edict.
By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites.
And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised,
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly
or lose heart when you are reproved by him,
But if you are without discipline — which all receive[fn] — then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn't we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?
and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated[fn] but healed instead.
Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and defiling many.
For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, even though he sought it with tears, because he didn't find any opportunity for repentance.
For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm,
to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words. Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them,
Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering,
to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written[fn] in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect,
and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.
His voice shook the earth at that time, but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,
Marriage is to be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
Therefore, we may boldly say,
The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
Don't be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited.
Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify[fn] the people by his own blood.
Don't neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Obey your leaders[fn] and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Brothers and sisters, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy send you greetings.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:
To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.[fn]
Greetings.
And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God — who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly — and it will be given to him.
But let him ask in faith without doubting.[fn] For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent,[fn] humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face[fn] in a mirror.
For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.
But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works — this person will be blessed in what he does.
Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in,
if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,”
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn't God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it?
You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete,
and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend.
In the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature, able also to control the whole body.
Now if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we direct their whole bodies.
And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest.
And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed[fn] among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and fish is tamed and has been tamed by humankind,
With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God's likeness.
Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom.
But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and deny the truth.
For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.
What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don't they come from your passions that wage war within you?[fn]
You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war.[fn] You do not have because you do not ask.
You ask and don't receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer[fn] defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
There is one lawgiver and judge[fn] who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”
Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.
Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.
Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Armies.
You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name as an example of suffering and patience.
See, we count as blessed those who have endured.[fn] You have heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about — the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no,” so that you won't fall under judgment.[fn]
Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.
My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back,
let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ:
To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
so that the proven character of your faith — more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated.
They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.[fn]
If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one's work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.
but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
because you have been born again — not of perishable seed but of imperishable — through the living and enduring word of God.
For
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.
you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood[fn] to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in Scripture:
See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and honored[fn] cornerstone,
and the one who believes in him
will never be put to shame.
and
A stone to stumble over,
and a rock to trip over.
They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.
Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul.
Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God's slaves.
Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.
For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.
For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer[fn] of your souls.
In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by the way their wives live
Don't let your beauty consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes,
but rather what is inside the heart[fn] — the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also adorned themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands,
just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and do not fear any intimidation.
Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker partner, showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
For the one who wants to love life
and to see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit,
because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against
those who do what is evil.
But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them[fn] or be intimidated,
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge[fn] of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.
They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.
For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead,[fn] so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God's standards.
If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God's words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.
If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God[fn] rests on you.
And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
So then, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.
I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:
Through Silvanus,[fn] a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.
Simeon[fn] Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ:
To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.
For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.
since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me.
And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.[fn]
For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son,[fn] with whom I am well-pleased! ”
We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.
We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them.
They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
and if he didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,[fn] when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;
and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction,[fn] making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;
(for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) —
especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority.
Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones;
however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.[fn]
But these people, like irrational animals — creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed — slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed.
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions[fn] while they feast with you.
They have eyes full of adultery that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!
These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.
For if, having escaped the world's impurity through the knowledge of the Lord[fn] and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.
so that you recall the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles.
saying, “Where is his ‘coming' that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.”
They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water.
By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
Dear friends, don't overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness
as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming.[fn] Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat.
But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in his sight, at peace.
Also, regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him.
He speaks about these things in all his letters. There are some things hard to understand in them. The untaught and unstable will twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.[fn]
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life —
that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us —
what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.
If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He himself is the atoning sacrifice[fn] for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn't keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.
The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.[fn]
But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he's going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
I have written to you, children,
because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the one who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong,
God's word remains in you,
and you have conquered the evil one.
For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's possessions — is not from the Father, but is from the world.
And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour.
I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.
No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you,[fn] remain in him.
So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
See what great love[fn] the Father has given us that we should be called God's children — and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know him.
Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears,[fn] we will be like him because we will see him as he is.
You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins,[fn] and there is no sin in him.
This is how God's children and the devil's children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.
unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.
Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
If anyone has this world's goods and sees a fellow believer[fn] in need but withholds compassion from him — how does God's love reside in him?
This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.
and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.
Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.
The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.
but every spirit that does not confess Jesus[fn] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.
We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice[fn] for our sins.
No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in[fn] us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world's Savior.
And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.
If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.[fn]
And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father[fn] also loves the one born of him.
This is how we know that we love God's children: when we love God and obey[fn] his commands.
For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,
because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
Jesus Christ — he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him,[fn] and the evil one does not touch him.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one.[fn] We are in the true one — that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
The elder:
To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth — and not only I, but also all who know the truth —
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
So now I ask you, dear lady — not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning — that we love one another.
This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.[fn]
Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Anyone who does not remain in Christ's teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and do not greet him;
Though I have many things to write to you, I don't want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.
Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health, just as your whole life is going well.[fn]
For I was very glad when fellow believers came and testified to your fidelity to the truth — how you are walking in truth.
Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers.
This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.
Everyone speaks well of Demetrius — even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:
To those who are the called, loved[fn] by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.
For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago,[fn] have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.
Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions,[fn] and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
In the same way these people — relying on their dreams — defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones.
Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam's error for profit, and have perished in Korah's rebellion.
It was about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied: “Look! The Lord comes with tens of thousands of his holy ones
“to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly concerning all the ungodly acts that they have done in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against him.”
These people are discontented grumblers, living according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage.
save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
The revelation of[fn] Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep[fn] what is written in it, because the time is near.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has set us free[fn] from our sins by his blood,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
I was in the Spirit[fn] on the Lord's day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet
saying, “Write on a scroll[fn] what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man,[fn] dressed in a robe and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.
The hair of his head was white as wool — white as snow — and his eyes like a fiery flame.
His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of cascading[fn] waters.
He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don't be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
“and the Living One. I was dead, but look — I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
“I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.
“I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.
“Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you[fn] and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
“Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life:
“I know your[fn] affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
“Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown[fn] of life.
“Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword:
“But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block[fn] in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.
“In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.[fn]
“So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna.[fn] I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.
“Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze:
“I know your works — your love, faithfulness,[fn] service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.
“But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols.
“I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.
“Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction. Unless they repent of her[fn] works,
“I will strike her children dead.[fn] Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations —
“Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come[fn] like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.
“In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.
“Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia: Thus says the Holy One, the true one, the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens:
“I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
“Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.
“The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God — the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God — and my new name.
“Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator[fn] of God's creation:
“So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit[fn] you out of my mouth.
“For you say, ‘I'm rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,' and you don't realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
“I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see.
“See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
“To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
Immediately I was in the Spirit, and there was a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it.
The one seated[fn] there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone. A rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.
Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes, with golden crowns on their heads.
Flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne. Seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne.
Four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back were around the throne on each side.
The first living creature was like a lion; the second living creature was like an ox; the third living creature had a face like a man; and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop,[fn] saying,
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God, the Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is to come.
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say,
Our Lord and God,[fn]
you are worthy to receive
glory and honor and power,
because you have created all things,
and by your will
they exist and were created.
Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.
I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? ”
But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it.
I wept and wept because no one was found worthy to open[fn] the scroll or even to look in it.
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and[fn] its seven seals.”
Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.
When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands.
They said with a loud voice,
Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!
I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say,
Blessing and honor and glory and power
be to the one seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!
Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven[fn] seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come! ”
I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.[fn]
Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.
When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come! ” And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a set of scales in his hand.
Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius,[fn] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and the wine.”
When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come! ”
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given.[fn]
They cried out with a loud voice, “Lord,[fn] the one who is holy and true, how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood? ”
So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.
the stars[fn] of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind;
the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea,
And I heard the number of the sealed:
144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:
After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice:
Salvation belongs to our God,
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!
All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,
saying,
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from? ”
I said to him, “Sir,[fn] you know.”
Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve him day and night in his temple.
The one seated on the throne will shelter[fn] them:
For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;
he will guide them to springs of the waters of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them.
Another angel, with a golden incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar in front of the throne.
The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel's hand.
The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea became blood,
a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water.
The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.
The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light and also a third of the night.
I looked and heard an eagle[fn] flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound! ”
The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key for the shaft to the abyss was given to him.
He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great[fn] furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.
Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth, and power[fn] was given to them like the power that scorpions have on the earth.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God's seal on their foreheads.
They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone.
In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces;
they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle;
and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months.
The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four[fn] horns of the golden altar that is before God, I heard a voice
So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race.
This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.
A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues — by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths.
For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.
The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.
And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
and he held a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land,
and he called out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders raised their voices.
And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down! ”
Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven.
He swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will no longer be a delay,
“but in the days when the seventh angel will blow his trumpet, then the mystery of God will be completed, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”
Then I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.
And they said to me, “You must prophesy again about[fn] many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
“But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Don't measure it, because it is given to the nations,[fn] and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
“I will grant[fn] my two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.”
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord[fn] of the earth.
If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.
They have authority to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want.
When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them.
And some of[fn] the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.
Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
But after three and a half days, the breath[fn] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them.
Then they heard[fn] a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.
At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying,
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign forever and ever.
The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God,
saying,
We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty,
who is and who was,[fn]
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were angry,
but your wrath has come.
The time has come
for the dead to be judged
and to give the reward
to your servants the prophets,
to the saints, and to those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and the time has come to destroy
those who destroy the earth.
A great sign[fn] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.
She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule[fn] all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be nourished there[fn] for 1,260 days.
Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought,
So the great dragon was thrown out — the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,
The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ
have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them
before our God day and night,
has been thrown down.
They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
for they did not love their lives
to the point of death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you
with great fury,
because he knows his time is short.
When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted[fn] the woman who had given birth to the male child.
The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent's presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.
From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.
But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth.
So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring[fn] — those who keep the commands of God and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus.
The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.
One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed.
The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.
They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against it? ”
It began to speak[fn] blasphemies against God: to blaspheme his name and his dwelling — those who dwell in heaven.
And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation.
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb,[fn] but it spoke like a dragon.
It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
It also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.
It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image[fn] of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
It was permitted to give breath[fn] to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
And it makes everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast's name or the number of its name.
Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
I heard a sound[fn] from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps.
They sang[fn] a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed[fn] from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth — to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
“he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
“and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest[fn] day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.
“This calls for endurance from the saints, who keep God's commands and their faith in Jesus.”[fn]
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them.”
Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man[fn] was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have ripened.”
So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.
Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses' bridles for about 180 miles.[fn]
Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign[fn] in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues; for with them God's wrath will be completed.
I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, its image,[fn] and the number of its name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God.
They sang the song of God's servant Moses and the song of the Lamb:
Great and awe-inspiring are your works,
Lord God, the Almighty;
just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.[fn]
Lord, who will not fear
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you
because your righteous acts
have been revealed.
After this I looked, and the heavenly temple — the tabernacle of testimony — was opened.
Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes wrapped around their chests.
One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.
Then the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven[fn] bowls of God's wrath on the earth.”
The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
The second[fn] poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like that of a dead person, and all life in the sea died.
The third[fn] poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.
I heard the angel of the waters say,
You are just,
the Holy One, who is and who was,
because you have passed judgment on these things.
Because they poured out
the blood of the saints and the prophets,
you have given them blood to drink;
they deserve it!
The fourth[fn] poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire,
and people were scorched by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who has the power[fn] over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.
The sixth[fn] poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon's mouth, from the beast's mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet.
“Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed[fn] so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.”
There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake.
The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations[fn] fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God's presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger.
Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[fn] fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.
“The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those who live on the earth became drunk on the wine of her sexual immorality.”
The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls. She had a golden cup in her hand filled with everything detestable and with the impurities of her[fn] prostitution.
On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Detestable Things of the Earth.
Then I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.
Then the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast, with the seven heads and the ten horns, that carries her.
“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and is to come.
“Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain for only a little while.
“The beast that was and is not, is itself an eighth king, but it belongs to the seven and is going to destruction.
“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.
“These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
He also said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.
“The ten horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire.
“For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his plan by having one purpose and to give their kingdom[fn] to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.
“And the woman you saw is the great city that has royal power over the kings of the earth.”
After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.
For all the nations have drunk[fn]
the wine of her sexual immorality,
which brings wrath.
The kings of the earth
have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.
Then I heard another voice from heaven:
Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins
or receive any of her plagues.
Pay her back the way she also paid,
and double it according to her works.
In the cup in which she mixed,
mix a double portion for her.
As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways,
give her that much torment and grief.
For she says in her heart,
“I sit as a queen;
I am not a widow,
and I will never see grief.”
For this reason her plagues will come in just one day —
death and grief and famine.
She will be burned up with fire,
because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.
The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning.
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any longer —
cargo of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all kinds of fragrant wood products; objects of ivory; objects of expensive wood, brass,[fn] iron, and marble;
The fruit you craved has left you.
All your splendid and glamorous things are gone;
they will never find them again.
The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
saying,
Woe, woe, the great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet,
adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls;
for in a single hour
such fabulous wealth was destroyed!
And every shipmaster, seafarer, the sailors, and all who do business by sea, stood far off
as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out, “Who was like the great city? ”
They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning,
Woe, woe, the great city,
where all those who have ships on the sea
became rich from her wealth;
for in a single hour she was destroyed.
Rejoice over her, heaven,
and you saints, apostles, and prophets,
because God has pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you!
Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
In this way, Babylon the great city
will be thrown down violently
and never be found again.
The sound of harpists, musicians,
flutists, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you again;
no craftsman of any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the sound of a mill
will never be heard in you again;
the light of a lamp
will never shine in you again;
and the voice of a groom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
All this will happen
because your merchants
were the nobility of the earth,
because all the nations were deceived
by your sorcery.
In her was found the blood of prophets and saints,
and of all those slaughtered on the earth.
After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying,
Hallelujah!
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,
because his judgments are true[fn] and righteous,
because he has judged the notorious prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality;
and he has avenged the blood of his servants
that was on her hands.
Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying,
Amen! Hallelujah!
A voice came from the throne, saying,
Praise our God,
all his servants, and the ones who fear him,
both small and great!
Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying,
Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty,
reigns!
Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory,
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has prepared herself.
She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure.
For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
Then he[fn] said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb! ” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”
Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit[fn] of prophecy.”
Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war.
His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns[fn] were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.
The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen.
And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he called out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
“so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of military commanders, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.”
Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army.
But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with it the false prophet, who had performed the signs in its presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds ate their fill of their flesh.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan,[fn] and bound him for a thousand years.
He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were completed. After that, he must be released for a short time.
Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power[fn] over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea.
They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven[fn] and consumed them.
The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.
I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.
Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.
Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things[fn] have passed away.
Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words[fn] are faithful and true.”
Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
“The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
“But the cowards, faithless,[fn] detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
He then carried me away in the Spirit[fn] to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel's sons were inscribed on the gates.
There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.
The one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.
The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia.[fn] Its length, width, and height are equal.
Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used.
The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass.
The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street[fn] of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.[fn]
Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb's book of life.
Then he showed me the river[fn] of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
down the middle of the city's main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations,
and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.
Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me.
But he said to me, “Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God! ”
Then he said to me, “Don't seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.
“Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy still be filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; let the holy still be holy.”
“Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes,[fn] so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
“Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come! ” Let anyone who hears, say, “Come! ” Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.
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