CSB
Click to Change
Return to Top
KJV (Narrated)
NKJV (Narrated)
NKJV (Dramatized)
NLT (Dramatized)
NIV (Narrated)
NIV (Dramatized)
ESV (Narrated)
NASB95 (Narrated)
|
Line-By-Line Order:
 Verse-ReferenceReference-VerseSeparate LineVerse OnlyReference Only |
Reference Delimiters:
None — Jhn 1:1 KJV Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]Curly — {Jhn 1:1 KJV}Parens — (Jhn 1:1 KJV) |
|
Paragraph Order:
Verse-ReferenceReference-VerseReference-Only |
Number Delimiters:*
No NumberNo Delimiter — 15Square — [15]Curly — {15}Parens — (15) |
|
Other Options:
 Abbreviate Books Use SBL Abbrev.En dash not Hyphen |
Quotes Around VersesRemove Square Brackets |
Select All Verses |
Clear All Verses |
* 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order'
* 'Remove Square Brackets' does not apply to the Amplified Bible
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.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.
“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:
Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared.
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.
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.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.
For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:
A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!
Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him,
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.”
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.
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles.
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.
Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
“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.
“But I tell you, don't take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God's throne;
“or by the earth, because it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King.
“But let your ‘yes' mean ‘yes,' and your ‘no' mean ‘no.' Anything more than this is from the evil one.
“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.
“Don't be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.
“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.
“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.
“Why do you look at the splinter in your brother's eye but don't notice the beam of wood in your own eye?
“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.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
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 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.
“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.”
When Jesus came to the leader's house, he saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.
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]
“because it isn't you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.
“When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
“Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
“But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.
“For I came to turn
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared,[fn] but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
“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.
“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.
“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?
“If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
“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.
“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.
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.
“When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn't find any.
“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.”
“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow.
“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.
“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 while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left.
“The landowner's servants came to him and said, ‘Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from? '
“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.”
so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
I will open my mouth in parables;
I will declare things kept secret
from the foundation of the world.[fn]
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.”
“the field is the world; and the good seed — these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,
“and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
“Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. Let anyone who has ears[fn] listen.
“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,
“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.”
“Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph,[fn] Simon, and Judas?
For Herod had arrested John, chained[fn] him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,
When Herod's birthday celebration came, Herodias's daughter danced before them[fn] and pleased Herod.
Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter.”
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It's a ghost! ” they said, and they cried out in fear.
When the men of that place recognized him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to him all who were sick.
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.
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 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 turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you're not thinking about God's concerns[fn] but human concerns.”
“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.
“Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
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.”
“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.”
As they were gathering together[fn] in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.
“See to it that you don't despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven.[fn]
“In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
“Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan.
His disciples said to him, “If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it's better not to marry.”
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
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.
“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.'
“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.
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.”
“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.”
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.
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? ”
“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.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers? ”
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.
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.”
Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God.
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like[fn] angels in heaven.
“Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven't you read what was spoken to you by God:
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.'[fn]
“And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God's throne and by him who sits on it.
“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.
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? ”
“So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand),
“For at that time there will be great distress,[fn] the kind that hasn't taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.
“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.'
“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.'
“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.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels[fn] with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
“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,
“The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”
“But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”
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.
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.
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.' ”
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! ”
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.
They conferred together and bought the potter's field with it as a burial place for foreigners.
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.”
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that a riot was starting instead, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this man's blood.[fn] See to it yourselves! ”
Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's residence and gathered the whole company[fn] around him.
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! ”
“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.
Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.
He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus's body. Then Pilate ordered that it[fn] be released.
“If this reaches the governor's ears, we will deal with[fn] him and keep you out of trouble.”
“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,
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! ”
Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order.
“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! ”
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]
“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he told the paralytic —
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.
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.
“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? ”
Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing.
Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God! ”
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,
“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.
He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables
“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 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.”
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! ”
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.
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.
Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing.
While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader's house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore? ”
They came to the leader's house, and he saw a commotion — people weeping and wailing loudly.
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.
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.”
He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God's command in order to set up[fn] your tradition!
“You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”
“Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”[fn]
When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable.
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.
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign from heaven to test him.
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? ”
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.”
“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.”
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?
Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak.
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.”
“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,
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.
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.
“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive[fn] the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ”
The disciples were astonished at his words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is[fn] to enter the kingdom of God!
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
“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,
“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]
“At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from them.
“What then will the owner[fn] of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others.
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? ”
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.
Jesus spoke to them, “Isn't this the reason why you're mistaken: you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God?
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.
“When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.
“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.
“the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
“Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won't be a riot among the people.”
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 the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”
“Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new[fn] in the kingdom of God.”
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.
One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his ear.
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.
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.”
When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
“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.
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.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
“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.
“For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me.
because he has looked with favor
on the humble condition of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations
will call me blessed,
When they came to circumcise the child on the eighth day, they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.
Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited
and provided redemption for his people.
to shine on those who live in darkness
and the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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.
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,
“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]
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,
as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!
Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.
But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the evil things he had done,
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 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.
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:
“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.”
“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! ”
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.
When the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to him. As he laid his hands on each one of them, he healed 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 got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.
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.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus's knees and said, “Go away from me, because I'm a sinful man, Lord! ”
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.”
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.”
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.
“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.”
Jesus said to them, “You can't make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you?
“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.”
During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
“Why do you look at the splinter in your brother's eye, but don't notice the beam of wood in your own eye?
“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.
“For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren't gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush.
“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.
When he had concluded saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.
When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, requesting him to come and save the life of his servant.
“I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John,[fn] but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves.)
“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
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,
“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.
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.
“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 he replied to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”
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.
The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
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.
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,
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.
While he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader's house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher anymore.”
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.
“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am? ”
Peter answered, “God's Messiah.”
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.
“Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
Just then a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he's my only child.
And they were all astonished at the greatness of God.
While everyone was amazed at all the things he was doing, he told his disciples,
“Let these words sink in:[fn] The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”
When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined[fn] to journey to Jerusalem.
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]
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.”
But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”
But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.
“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.
“‘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.'
“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.
“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? ”
“If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
“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.
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.
“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]
Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to his disciples first, “Be on your guard against the leaven[fn] of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
“Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies?[fn] Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight.
“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.
Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
“For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
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?
“And that servant who knew his master's will and didn't prepare himself or do it[fn] will be severely beaten.
“From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three.
“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.
“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? ”
“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.”
“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.
When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! ”
“I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents.”
“So he summoned each one of his master's debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master? ' he asked the first one.
“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.
“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.”
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.
“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.
“‘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! '
He said to his disciples, “Offenses will certainly come,[fn] but woe to the one through whom they come!
“Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat'?
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.
“For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in his day.
“And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.'
“I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? ”
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.
“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Seeing that he became sad,[fn] Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
“For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God,
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.
He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man.
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.
“ ‘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.
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,
“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.
“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps[fn] they will respect him.'
“So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
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.
“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.
“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.
“For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
“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.”
So he accepted the offer and started looking for a good opportunity to betray him to them when the crowd was not present.
Then he said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
“For I tell you, I will not eat it again[fn] until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
“For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
“For the Son of Man will go away as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed! ”
“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.
When he reached the place, he told them, “Pray that you may not fall into temptation.”
They seized him, led him away, and brought him into the high priest's house. Meanwhile Peter was following at a distance.
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.
“But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
They all asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God? ”
And he said to them, “You say that I am.”
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.
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! ”
because the sun's light failed.[fn] The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle.
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.
“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'? ”
“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,
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow[fn] to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
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.
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.
No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father's side[fn] — he has revealed him.
This was John's testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you? ”
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
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.”
“How do you know me? ” Nathanael asked.
“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.
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.”
He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace! ”[fn]
And his disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume me.
and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,[fn] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
“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,
“Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
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.
For the one whom God sent speaks God's words, since he[fn] gives the Spirit without measure.
The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son[fn] will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.[fn]
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.”
“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.”
“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them.
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]
“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.
“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.
“But I have a greater testimony than John's because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent 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?
Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
“Don't work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.”
Jesus replied, “This is the work of God — that you believe in the one he has sent.”
“Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses didn't give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
“For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
“This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day.
“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.”
Therefore the Jews started grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
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 —
“not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father.
“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.
“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.”
He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”
“If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.
“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.
“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.
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.
Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
“You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this 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.
“Our father is Abraham,” they replied.
“If you were Abraham's children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did.
“But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
“You're doing what your father does.”
“We weren't born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father — God.”
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 one who is from God listens to God's words. This is why you don't listen, because you are not from God.”
“Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be? ”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him.
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.
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.”
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.
“Throughout history[fn] no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.
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]
“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.”
“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.
“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.
Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me? ”
“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?
So he departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there.
When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
“Aren't there twelve hours in a day? ” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep.
“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”
But some of them said, “Couldn't he who opened the blind man's eyes also have kept this man from dying? ”
“Remove the stone,” Jesus said.
Martha, the dead man's sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? ”
One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!
“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.”
He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover.
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus[fn] was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.
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.
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! ”
“Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.
“Father, glorify your name.”[fn]
Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
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? ”
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?
Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
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.
“Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,[fn] and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.
“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he.
When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.
“In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
“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.”
“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.
“I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me.[fn]
“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 do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn't know what his master[fn] is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates 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.
“When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father — the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father — he will testify about me.
“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.
“I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.
“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.”
“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.
“I pray[fn] for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours.
“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 am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.
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.
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.)
First they led him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die for the people.
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.
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.
One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn't I see you with him in the garden? ”
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 said this so that Jesus's words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.
“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,[fn] my kingdom is not from here.”
From that moment Pilate kept trying[fn] to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar! ”
It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.[fn] Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king! ”
Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
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.
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.
They took Jesus's body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.
The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first.
She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus's body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.
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.
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;
They all were continually united in prayer,[fn] along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
“Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.
Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.
“Cretans and Arabs — we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.”
“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.
“God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.
“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.
“Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He[fn] was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.
“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.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.
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! ”
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.
When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness?
“And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people.
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.
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.
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;
“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.
“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.
With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.
“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.”
After they called in the apostles and had them flogged, they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.
The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.
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.
They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law.
“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.
“He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn't survive.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“He found favor in God's sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God[fn] of Jacob.
“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! ”
The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing.
They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God.”[fn]
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.
When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
But Peter told him, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
“You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.
“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.
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.
Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest
As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.
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.
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.
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.
In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky.
While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon's house, stood at the gate.
While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you.
Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you're looking for. What is the reason you're here? ”
“and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God's sight.
“So I immediately sent for you, and it was good of you to come. So now we are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.”
“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.
“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.
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message.
“Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? ”
He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
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.
“But a voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call impure.'
“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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
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.”
“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.
“This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
“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.'
“For David, after serving God's purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed,
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.
The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of the Lord.[fn]
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.
“For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
I have made you
a light for the Gentiles
to bring salvation
to the ends of the earth.”
When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.
He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,
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.
Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.
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.”
From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
“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.
But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch, teaching and proclaiming the word of the Lord.
After some time had passed, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let's go back and visit the brothers and sisters in every town where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they're doing.”
But Paul chose Silas and departed, after being commended by the brothers and sisters to the grace of the Lord.
A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.
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.”
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.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols.
Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.
“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 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.”
“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.”
As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or of a serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews.
“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.”
but he said farewell and added,[fn] “I'll come back to you again, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
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.
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.
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! ”
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.
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.
Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander[fn] after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people.
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?
and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.
On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight.
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.
“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.
“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.
“In every way I've shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.' ”
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.”
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.
So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.
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.
When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,
He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strictness of our ancestral law. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
“As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.
“Now those who were with me saw the light,[fn] but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
“And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'
“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! ”
“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”
“So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you[fn] as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. But, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.”
“The Jews,” he said, “have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they are going to hold a somewhat more careful inquiry about him.
I found out that the accusations were concerning questions of their law, and that there was no charge that merited death or imprisonment.
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 the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied, “Because I know you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I am glad to offer my defense in what concerns me.
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.
“But when Paul appealed to be held for trial by the Emperor,[fn] I ordered him to be kept in custody until I could send him to Caesar.”
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.
“In fact, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
“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.
“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.'
“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 —
When it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Imperial Regiment.[fn]
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.
For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging. Finally all hope was fading that we would be saved.
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.
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.
“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.
“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]
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David[fn] according to the flesh
and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness[fn] by the resurrection of the dead.
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son — that I constantly mention you,
always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
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.
since what can be known[fn] about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.
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.
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.
There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;
For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.[fn]
So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do[fn] what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law.
and know his will, and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law,
For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
So if an uncircumcised man keeps the law's requirements, will not his uncircumcision be counted as 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.
What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness?
But if by my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?
But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.[fn]
God presented him as the mercy seat[fn] by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.
Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
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.
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
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 waver in unbelief at God's promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace[fn] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die.
For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
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.
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.
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.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Since I am speaking to those who know the law, brothers and sisters, don't you know that the law rules over someone as long as he lives?
For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband.
So then, if she is married to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she is married to another man, she is not an adulteress.
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.
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused through the law were working in us[fn] to bear fruit for death.
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.
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.
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
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]
in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it is unable to do so.
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.
So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh,
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
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.
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.
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.
Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off[fn] from Christ for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood.
Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
That is, it is not the children by physical descent[fn] who are God's children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.
For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to election might stand —
Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?
But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel,
Though the number of Israelites
is like the sand of the sea,
only the remnant will be saved;
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.
since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he pleads with God against Israel?
as it is written,
God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that cannot see
and ears that cannot hear,
to this day.
Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and their backs be bent continually.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.[fn]
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.
Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.
So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.
If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
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 the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Do not tear down God's work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make someone fall by what he eats.
Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
And again, Isaiah says,
The root of Jesse will appear,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
the Gentiles will hope in him.
Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points[fn] because of the grace given me by God
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God. God's purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
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 now I no longer have any work to do in these regions,[fn] and I have strongly desired for many years to come to you
I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing[fn] of Christ.
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.
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
but now revealed and made known through the prophetic Scriptures, according to the command of the eternal God to advance the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles —
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.
I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus,
so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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.
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law?[fn] Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made the world's wisdom foolish?
For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.
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,
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery[fn] of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom.
We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
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.
Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.
According to God's grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder,[fn] and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it.
Don't you yourselves know that you are God's temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, and that is what you are.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness;
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.
when we are slandered, we respond graciously. Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone's garbage.
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.
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,
hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
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.
I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers?
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.
Don't you know that your bodies are a part of Christ's body? So should I take a part of Christ's body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not!
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.
I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord — how he may please the Lord.
But the married man is concerned about the things of the world — how he may please his wife —
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.
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.
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?
If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don't we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.
What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.
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.
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread.
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]
I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person's. For why is my freedom judged by another person's conscience?
For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.
If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other[fn] custom, nor do the churches of God.
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,
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.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things.
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.
If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord's command.
For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
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.
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 God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception.
And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
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.
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.
He comforts us in all our affliction,[fn] so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
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.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
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.
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.”
so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.
When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord opened a door for me,
For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many.[fn] On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.
It is not that we are competent in[fn] ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.
Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses's face because of its glory, which was set aside,
Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth.
In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,[fn] who is the image of God.
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
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.
Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God.
So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
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.
For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died.
Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don't receive the grace of God in vain.”
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.
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.
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?
In Damascus, a ruler[fn] under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me.
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.
The signs of an apostle were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders and miracles.
Have you been thinking all along that we were defending ourselves to you? No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up.
since you seek proof of Christ speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but powerful among you.
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.
I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel —
not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God's church and tried to destroy it.
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.
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.
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.
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.
Is the law therefore contrary to God's promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law.
Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise.
In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elements[fn] of the world.
When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
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.”
You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.
Now brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised — but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.
May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God![fn]
From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.
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 which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.[fn]
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.
But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
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]
So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God's household,
assuming you have heard about the administration of God's grace that he gave me for you.
I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the working of his power.
This grace was given to me — the least of all the saints — to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ,
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 to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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.
Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts.
They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because[fn] of the hardness of their hearts.
Therefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.
And don't grieve God's Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him[fn] for the day of redemption.
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.
Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God's wrath is coming on the disobedient[fn] because of these things.
giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Don't work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing God's will from your heart.
knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.
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.
In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
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,
because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me.
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
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.
For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of 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.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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]
You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[fn] behalf,
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,
giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you[fn] to share in the saints' inheritance in the light.
He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
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 —
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.
I have become its servant, according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
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]
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.
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.
If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations:
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your[fn] Creator.
Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
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.
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,
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.
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.
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,
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.
Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts.
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.
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
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,
How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of 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]
For this is God's will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality,
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 we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord's coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
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.
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
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.
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
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.
The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan's working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie,
He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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,
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.
Now we command and exhort such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and provide for themselves.[fn]
To Timothy, my true son in the faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the[fn] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.
and the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
He must manage his own household competently and have his children under control with all dignity.
(If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God's church?)
He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil.
Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the devil's trap.
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.
But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when they are drawn away from Christ by desire, they want to marry
For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.
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.
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,
But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
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
to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To Timothy, my dearly loved son.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.
So don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.
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.
No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer.
for which I suffer to the point of being bound like a criminal. But the word of God is not bound.
Remind them of these things, and charge them before God[fn] not to fight about words. This is useless and leads to the ruin of those who listen.
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, bearing this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who calls on the name of[fn] the Lord turn away from wickedness.
Then they may come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
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:
In his own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior:
To Titus, my true son in our common faith.
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
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.
to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and in submission to their husbands, so that God's word will not be slandered.
or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
but to[fn] the Son:
Your throne, God,
is forever and ever,
and the scepter of your kingdom
is a scepter of justice.
how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
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.
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 —
For Jesus is considered worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder has more honor than the house.
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality[fn] that we had at the start.
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.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession.
No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.
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.
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,
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.
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.
For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings,
Without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
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.”
He doesn't need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do — first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself.
Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
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.
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our[fn] consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model[fn] of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us.
Then I said, “See —
it is written about me
in the scroll —
I have come to do your will, God.”
he then says, See, I have come to do your will.[fn] He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.[fn]
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 you need endurance, so that after you have done God's will, you may receive what was promised.
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.
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.
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.
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.
and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.
For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.
By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king's anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.
since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.
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.
Remember your leaders who have spoken God's word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.
Brothers and sisters, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.
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.
No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn't tempt anyone.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
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.
My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
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?
If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
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.
You adulterous people![fn] Don't you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 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,
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few — that is, eight people[fn] — were saved through water.
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.
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.
For the time has come for judgment to begin with God's household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
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:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,
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!
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.
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.
The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.
For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
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.
They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor,[fn] who loved the wages of wickedness
but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stable position.
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 —
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.
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.
He himself is the atoning sacrifice[fn] for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:
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.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
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.
The one who commits[fn] sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil's works.
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.
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.
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?
Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
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.
God's love was revealed among us[fn] in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world's Savior.
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.
Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
If we accept human testimony, God's testimony is greater, because it is God's testimony that he has given about his Son.
The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son.
The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
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.
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.
I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.
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.
They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God,
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
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.
Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses's body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you! ”
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.
But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.
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,
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.
“and the Living One. I was dead, but look — I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.
“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.
“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in[fn] the paradise of God.
“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.
“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.
“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 say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven't known “the so-called secrets[fn] of Satan” — as they say — I am not putting any other burden on 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:
“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.
“Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
“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:
“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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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!
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]
the stars[fn] of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind;
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,
“Don't harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
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,
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 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.
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.
The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four[fn] horns of the golden altar that is before God, I heard a voice
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.
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! ”
“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.”
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.
“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.
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord[fn] of 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,
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed.
The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.
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.
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.
“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.”
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 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 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]
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.”
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.
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.
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.
For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.
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.”
“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.
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.
They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying,
Woe, woe, the great city,
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in a single hour
your judgment has come.
The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
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 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 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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
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.”
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,
arrayed with God's glory. Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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]
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.”
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 devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
“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.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
“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?
“No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse.
Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,
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! ”
“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.
“Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
“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.
“They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
He said, “Come.”
And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus.
They begged him that they might only touch the end of his robe, and as many as touched it were healed.
“It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth — this defiles a person.”
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.”
“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]
“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.
“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.
“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.
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? ”
“The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.'
“But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”
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.
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.”
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that a riot was starting instead, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this man's blood.[fn] See to it yourselves! ”
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.
So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news.
“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,
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.
“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.
As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.
Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing.
Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
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”).
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.
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.
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.
“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,
“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,
Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums.
“For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had — all she had to live on.”
As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings! ”
While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,
“A man on the housetop must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house,
But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted?
“Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new[fn] in the kingdom of God.”
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.
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.
They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us? ”
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]
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord's Messiah.
and was a widow for eighty-four years.[fn] She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.
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.
Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity.
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? ”
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.
He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.
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.
“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.
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.
approached from behind and touched the end of his robe. Instantly her bleeding stopped.
As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
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.
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.
“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.
When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washing[fn] before dinner.
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.
“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]
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.”
“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? ”
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? ”
“At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.'
“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]
“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.
“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,
Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:
“For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
As some were talking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said,
“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 tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
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.”
“Why do we need any more testimony,” they said, “since we've heard it ourselves from his mouth? ”
Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest.
He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.[fn]
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.
“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.”
so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property[fn] that Jacob had given his son Joseph.
“But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well[fn] of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
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.
“Doesn't the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David's offspring[fn] and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived? ”
After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes.
He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
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.
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 he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself.
“If I have spoken wrongly,” Jesus answered him, “give evidence[fn] about the wrong; but if rightly, why do you hit me? ”
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).
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.
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! ”
“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.
“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.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem — a Sabbath day's journey away.
“beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us — from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
“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.
“You have revealed the paths of life to me;
you will fill me with gladness
in your presence.
“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.
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.
A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple.
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.
“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.
While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them,
“while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
“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?
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.
Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name.[fn]
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.
“After forty years had passed, an angel[fn] appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.
“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.
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.
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.
but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.
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.
While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you.
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.”
“All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”
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.
“I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine throughout the Roman world.[fn] This took place during the reign of Claudius.
On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them.
So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
“From this man's descendants, as he promised, God brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus.[fn]
“When they had carried out all that had been written about him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb.
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.
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.
“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.
They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent[fn] of the blood of all of you,
“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.
“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go 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.”
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.
“Since I couldn't see because of the brightness of the light,[fn] I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.
“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,
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]
“Or let these men here state what wrongdoing they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin,
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.”
When he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea. The next day, seated at the tribunal, he commanded Paul to be brought in.
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.
Then after Festus conferred with his council, he replied, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you will go.”
“I answered them that it is not the Roman custom to give someone up[fn] before the accused faces the accusers and has an opportunity for a defense against the charges.
“So when they had assembled here, I did not delay. The next day I took my seat at the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in.
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.”
Since the ship was caught and unable to head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
“Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship.
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.
But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul, and so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.
The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore.
“Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; even though I had no charge to bring against my people.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
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.
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.
Therefore, did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.
For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.
Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.
because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
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.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?
Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works.[fn] They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
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]
I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing[fn] of Christ.
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.
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.
For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.
Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths 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.
For you may have countless instructors in Christ, but you don't have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
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,
Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin[fn] a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own 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,
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.
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.
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.
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?
Don't you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar?
In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
Consider the people of Israel.[fn] Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
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.
to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit,
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.
If the foot should say, “Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
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,
He has also put his seal on us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.
Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses's face because of its glory, which was set aside,
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,
In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,[fn] who is the image of God.
For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.
Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak and his public speaking amounts to nothing.”
So I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.
I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don't know; God knows.
I know that this man — whether in the body or out of the body I don't know; God knows —
But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.
The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.
For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don't do what you want.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ
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,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.
in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.[fn]
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.
I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,
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.
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.
No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need,[fn] so that it gives grace to those who hear.
for the fruit of the light[fn] consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth —
because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.
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.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit — which is the word of God.
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.
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.
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel,
the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment.
because I know this will lead to my salvation[fn] through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
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,
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.
because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel
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]
He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
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]
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.
God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
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]
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,
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.
But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.
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.
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.
He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.
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.
I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us[fn] for the glory of Christ.
I wanted to keep him with me, so that in my imprisonment for the gospel he might serve me in your place.
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.
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing.
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.
By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
he has inaugurated[fn] for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh) —
By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites.
for they could not bear what was commanded: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.
Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify[fn] the people by his own blood.
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.
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?
Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
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.
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.
since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me.
These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.
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.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever.
save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
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.
“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in[fn] the paradise of God.
“So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
“So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit[fn] you out of my mouth.
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.
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.
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]
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,
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.
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.
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 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.
The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four[fn] horns of the golden altar that is before God, I heard a voice
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.
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 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.
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.
One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed.
The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.
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 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.
so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast's name or the number of its name.
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.
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.”
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]
After this I looked, and the heavenly temple — the tabernacle of testimony — was opened.
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.
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.
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 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.”
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.
Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory,
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has prepared herself.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.”
The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.
The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass.
The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of jewel: the first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
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.
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
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.
|
Line-By-Line Order:
Verse-ReferenceReference-VerseSeparate LineVerse OnlyReference Only |
Reference Delimiters:
None — Jhn 1:1 KJVSquare — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]Curly — {Jhn 1:1 KJV}Parens — (Jhn 1:1 KJV) |
|
Paragraph Order:
Verse-ReferenceReference-VerseReference-Only |
Number Delimiters:*
No NumberNo Delimiter — 15Square — [15]Curly — {15}Parens — (15) |
|
Other Options:
Abbreviate BooksUse SBL Abbrev.En dash not Hyphen |
Quotes Around VersesRemove Square BracketsSort Canonically |
* 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order'
Translations available: King James Version, New King James Version, New Living Translation, New International Version, English Standard Version, Christian Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible 2020, New American Standard Bible 1995, Legacy Standard Bible 2021, New English Translation, Revised Standard Version, American Standard Version, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Translation, Webster's Bible, Hebrew Names Version, Reina-Valera 1960, Latin Vulgate, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Septuagint, Morphological Greek New Testament, and Textus Receptus.
Note: MLA no longer requires the URL as part of their citation standard. Individual instructors or editors may still require the use of URLs.
Loading
Loading
| Interlinear |
| Bibles |
| Cross-Refs |
| Commentaries |
| Dictionaries |
| Miscellaneous |
Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding.
Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
©2024 Blue Letter Bible | Privacy Policy
