Romans Cross References - BSB

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God— ² the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. ⁶ And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed all over the world. ⁹ God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers at all times, asking that now at last by God’s will I may succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, how often I planned to come to you (but have been prevented from visiting until now), in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵ That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. ¹⁶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. ¹⁷ For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” ¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. ¹⁹ For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen. ²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. ³¹ They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

²⁴ But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples. ²⁵ You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you. ²⁶ You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.

⁹ Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? ¹⁰ He has brought you near, you and all your fellow Levites, but you are seeking the priesthood as well.

⁸ At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.

¹³ The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

¹ Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: ¹¹ Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!

²⁶ If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

¹⁴ So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.

²⁰ Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well.

¹⁵ “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.

² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. ⁴ So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

⁹ Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas

²⁴ But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

⁴⁰ Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:

⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’

¹³ came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him. ¹⁴ Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice. ¹⁵ You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

²¹ Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

¹ Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:

¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁶ ‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

²³ For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me

⁵ Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

⁹ God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

¹⁶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

¹³ I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry

¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

²⁹ I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

¹⁸ For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

²⁵ Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past

¹ Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord?

¹⁶ Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

⁸ And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:

⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

⁵ I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”

¹¹ I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

¹ Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—

¹⁰ Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. ¹¹ For I certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man. ¹² I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. ¹³ For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

¹³ And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

⁵ which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. ⁶ This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. ⁷ I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.

¹¹ And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. ⁷ But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

²⁵ I became its servant by the commission God gave me to fully proclaim to you the word of God,

² As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God.

¹³ But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth. ¹⁴ To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

¹¹ that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. ¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that He considered me faithful and appointed me to service.

¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

⁷ For this reason I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles. I am telling the truth; I am not lying about anything.

¹¹ to which I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.

¹ Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,

⁴ No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was.

²⁶ Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.

¹ Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:

¹ This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,

⁶ Then the angel said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place.”

⁹ But he said to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”

⁷⁰ as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,

²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.

⁴³ All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

⁶ And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers,

² Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets.

²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—

² in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

¹² And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. ¹⁵ But My loving devotion will never be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I moved out of your way. ¹⁶ Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”

⁷ I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

³⁶ his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun, ³⁷ like the moon, established forever, a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

⁵ Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. ¹⁷ For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

²⁶ then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”

¹¹ “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,

¹ This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

⁶ and Jesse the father of David the king. Next: David was the father of Solomon by Uriah’s wife,

¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

²⁰ But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).

¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²³ The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?”

²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”

⁴² “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” “David’s,” they answered. ⁴³ Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says: ⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’ ⁴⁵ So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?”

⁶³ But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

³¹ Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”

³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.

⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,

⁴ So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

³⁴ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

⁴⁹ “Rabbi,” Nathanael answered, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”

²⁵ Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

⁴² Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

³⁶ then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?

²⁸ Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”

³¹ But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.

³⁶ As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”

²⁰ Saul promptly began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, declaring, “He is the Son of God.”

²² After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’ ²³ From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.

² For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,

²⁹ For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. ³¹ What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.

⁹ God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

¹³ He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

¹⁰ and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

¹⁶ By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David, as proclaimed by my gospel,

³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

⁸ The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.

² By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.

⁹ This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹⁵ If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.

⁵ Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. ¹¹ And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ 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.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

¹⁸ To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.

³¹ Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. ³² He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. ³³ They will flog Him and kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again.”

¹⁸ On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” ²⁰ “This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body.

²⁴ But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.

³² God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.

¹⁵ You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.

¹⁰ then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹² Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

³⁰ The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

³³ He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’ ³⁴ In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ ³⁵ So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’

³¹ For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

³ regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,

⁴ For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. And though we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him to serve you.

¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, ²⁰ which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

⁵ So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.” ⁶ And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

¹¹ trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

²¹ For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

¹⁰ So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

¹¹ For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁴ “But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.

¹⁶ From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

²⁵ to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”

⁷ So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.

¹⁴ Simon has told us how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people to be His own.

²⁹ Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.

¹⁵ However, I have written you a bold reminder on some points, because of the grace God has given me ¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

² Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

⁵ Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. ⁶ And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

⁴ The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ⁶ And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,

⁸ For the One who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in my apostleship to the Gentiles. ⁹ And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

⁶ to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.

² Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³ that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. ⁴ In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. ⁶ This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. ⁷ I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power. ⁸ Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

⁹ And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

²⁸ And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.

²⁴ including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?

⁶ I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

¹¹ In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

⁶ that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.

²¹ Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.

¹² encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

¹⁴ To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹ He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.

¹ Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

¹⁴ They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”

¹² Concerning Benjamin he said: “May the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him; God shields him all day long, and upon His shoulders he rests.”

⁵ Respond and save us with Your right hand, that Your beloved may be delivered.

¹ I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved.

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. ⁹ So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

¹⁷ “Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

²³ and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.

⁶ And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

²⁵ As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”

² To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: ³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge, ⁶ because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia: ² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹⁴ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²³ Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

¹³ I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

²⁰ To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

² To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.

³ and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹¹ Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone else, just as our love for you overflows, ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

⁷ For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.

²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

² To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

² Those who have believing masters should not show disrespect because they are brothers, but should serve them all the more, since those receiving their good service are beloved believers. Teach and encourage these principles.

² To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.

⁴ To Titus, my true child in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁵ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

¹⁵ But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

² Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

¹ Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

³ Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ: ² Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

⁴ John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.

⁸ To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.

¹² To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.

²⁹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

⁷ To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.

¹⁴ To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.

²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹ Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.

²⁸ One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)

¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.

¹⁹ Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.

⁴ I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

³ I thank my God every time I remember you.

¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

⁸ For not only did the message of the Lord ring out from you to Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone out to every place, so that we have no need to say anything more. ⁹ For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

¹¹ If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.

¹⁹ Even now my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.

¹ This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

¹ Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:

²³ But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. ²⁴ God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

²⁶ When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

²¹ After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”

¹⁴ I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,

¹ I speak the truth in Christ; I am not lying, as confirmed by my conscience in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ What then shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

²³ I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

¹⁰ As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise, knows that I am not lying.

²⁰ I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.

¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,

¹⁴ ... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth ¹⁹ of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, ²¹ to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

⁴ In every prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy,

⁸ God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

²² But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel.

³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. ¹³ He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,

²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹ To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

² We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers

⁵ As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness! ⁶ Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it. ⁷ On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children. ⁸ We cared so deeply that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives as well. That is how beloved you have become to us. ⁹ Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless our conduct was among you who believed.

¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking from your faith.

¹⁷ Pray without ceasing.

³ I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers. ⁴ I always thank my God, remembering you in my prayers,

⁹ Even if we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has given about His Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. ¹¹ And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

²¹ But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus.

¹⁴ When he would not be dissuaded, we fell silent and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹ When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. ² We boarded an Adramyttian ship about to sail for ports along the coast of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. ³ The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with consideration, allowing him to visit his friends and receive their care. ⁴ After putting out from there, we sailed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. ⁵ And when we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. ⁷ After sailing slowly for many days, we arrived off Cnidus. When the wind impeded us, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. ⁸ After we had moved along the coast with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. ⁹ By now much time had passed, and the voyage had already become dangerous because it was after the Fast. So Paul advised them, ¹⁰ “Men, I can see that our voyage will be filled with disaster and great loss, not only to ship and cargo, but to our own lives as well.” ¹¹ But contrary to Paul’s advice, the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and by the owner of the ship. ¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to sail on, if somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete facing both southwest and northwest. ¹³ When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had their opportunity. So they weighed anchor and sailed along, hugging the coast of Crete. ¹⁴ But it was not long before a cyclone called the Northeaster swept down across the island. ¹⁵ Unable to head into the wind, the ship was caught up. So we gave way and let ourselves be driven along. ¹⁶ Passing to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the lifeboat. ¹⁷ After hoisting it up, the crew used ropes to undergird the ship. And fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and were driven along. ¹⁸ We were tossed so violently that the next day the men began to jettison the cargo. ¹⁹ On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the great storm continued to batter us, we abandoned all hope of being saved. ²¹ After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have averted this disaster and loss. ²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because you will not experience any loss of life, but only of the ship. ²³ For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me ²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’ ²⁵ So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me. ²⁶ However, we must run aground on some island.” ²⁷ On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea. About midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. ²⁸ They took soundings and found that the water was twenty fathoms deep. Going a little farther, they took another set of soundings that read fifteen fathoms.

²² That is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. ²³ But now that there are no further opportunities for me in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to visit you, ²⁴ I hope to see you on my way to Spain. And after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can equip me for my journey.

³⁰ Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. ³¹ Pray that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, ³² so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.

¹⁹ But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only what these arrogant people are saying, but what power they have.

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

¹⁸ For we wanted to come to you—indeed I, Paul, tried again and again—but Satan obstructed us.

¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking from your faith. ¹¹ Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.

²² In the meantime, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.

¹⁹ And I especially urge you to pray that I may be restored to you soon.

¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”

³⁰ Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

³⁹ And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he had been consoled over Amnon’s death.

¹⁵ David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

²⁰ Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”

¹⁵ On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money. ¹⁹ “Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

⁶ And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

²³ But now that there are no further opportunities for me in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to visit you,

³² so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.

¹ Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. ⁴ There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people. ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.

²¹ Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,

¹⁴ And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

⁴ For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily.

² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? After starting in the Spirit, are you now finishing in the flesh? ⁴ Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? ⁵ Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe?

⁸ This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” ⁹ What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. ¹¹ And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

⁸ God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

²⁶ For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.

¹ Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

² We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

¹³ so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.

³ But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

⁹ Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.

¹⁰ And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.

¹² Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

¹² Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.

¹⁷ Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. ¹⁸ 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. Amen.

²³ When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.

²⁴ I hope to see you on my way to Spain. And after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can equip me for my journey.

¹ So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. ² For if I grieve you, who is left to cheer me but those whom I have grieved? ³ I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be saddened by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share my joy.

⁴ Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows. ⁵ For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.

¹³ On account of this, we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus. For his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.

⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

¹⁷ Brothers, although we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), our desire to see you face to face was even more intense. ¹⁸ For we wanted to come to you—indeed I, Paul, tried again and again—but Satan obstructed us. ¹⁹ After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? ²⁰ You are indeed our glory and our joy.

⁷ For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we have been reassured about you, because of your faith. ⁸ For now we can go on living, as long as you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ How can we adequately thank God for you in return for our great joy over you in His presence? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking from your faith.

⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

⁴ I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us.

³ For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in which you continue to walk. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

³ Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints.

⁶ In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

³⁶ Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.

²⁴ Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

²⁷ When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

¹² The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

⁶ After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. ⁷ And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.

¹⁹ Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

¹⁸ I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰ In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

²² That is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. ²³ But now that there are no further opportunities for me in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to visit you, ²⁴ I hope to see you on my way to Spain. And after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can equip me for my journey. ²⁵ Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. ²⁶ For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷ They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to minister to them with material blessings. ²⁸ So after I have completed this service and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set off to Spain by way of you.

¹ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.

¹ Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

⁸ We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.

¹⁵ Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing. ¹⁶ I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea.

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

¹³ We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you. ¹⁴ We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ. ¹⁵ Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well, ¹⁶ so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. Then we will not be boasting in the work already done in another man’s territory.

¹⁷ Not that I am seeking a gift, but I am looking for the fruit that may be credited to your account.

⁸ For not only did the message of the Lord ring out from you to Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone out to every place, so that we have no need to say anything more. ⁹ For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God ¹⁰ and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

¹³ And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as the true word of God—the word which is now at work in you who believe. ¹⁴ For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews,

¹³ Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.

⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way.

¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.

²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

⁵ O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.

⁸ And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

²¹ At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.

² The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. They kindled a fire and welcomed all of us because it was raining and cold.

⁴ When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

¹² Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.

¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.

⁸ Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

¹⁹ For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom,

¹³ And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.

¹⁶ Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it. ¹⁹ Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. ²¹ To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

¹¹ If, then, I do not know the meaning of someone’s language, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.

¹⁶ Otherwise, if you speak a blessing in spirit, how can someone who is uninstructed say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

²³ So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convicted and called to account by all,

¹² We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance.

¹⁹ For you gladly tolerate fools, since you are so wise.

¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

¹¹ Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

¹⁰ For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.

¹⁸ But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Since it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well to have this in your heart.

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”

⁸ She has done what she could to anoint My body in advance of My burial.

³⁴ Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁸ If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.

²⁰ In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.

¹⁷ If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.

¹² For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

⁹ I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know. ¹⁰ I have not covered up Your righteousness in my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and salvation; I have not concealed Your loving devotion and faithfulness from the great assembly.

¹⁵ My mouth will declare Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long, though I cannot know their full measure. ¹⁶ I will enter in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will proclaim Your righteousness—Yours alone.

² The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

⁴⁶ I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.

¹ Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

²⁹ “Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”

³⁸ If anyone 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 His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

²⁶ If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

³⁵ At this, the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go where the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

¹⁷ Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

⁴ My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

¹² If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

²⁴ But if an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convicted and called to account by all, ²⁵ and the secrets of his heart will be made known. So he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is truly among you!”

² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

¹² Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in the Lord,

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. ¹⁵ For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?

⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

¹³ Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others.

⁴ The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

⁷ which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

⁵ the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.

⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with great conviction—just as you know we lived among you for your sake. ⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

¹³ And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as the true word of God—the word which is now at work in you who believe.

¹¹ that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

⁸ So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

¹² For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he has often refreshed me and was unashamed of my chains.

¹² For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

¹⁶ But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear that name.

⁴ Look at the proud one; his soul is not upright—but the righteous will live by faith—

³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”

³ What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?

³⁰ What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

¹¹ Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”

⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

³⁸ But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. ⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁴⁶ The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”

²⁴ After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

¹⁹ For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

³ So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

¹⁵ So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them ¹⁶ on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel. ¹⁷ Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; ¹⁸ if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; ¹⁹ if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, ²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— ²¹ you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.

⁶ For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

⁹ Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!

¹³ Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

¹ Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, ² influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. ² Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. ³ Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard, ⁴ their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. ⁵ Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course, ⁶ it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

¹⁰ But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. ¹¹ Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.” ¹² The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. ¹³ When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

⁹ The true Light who gives light to every man was coming into the world.

¹⁶ In past generations, He let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷ Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

²³ For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. ²⁵ Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ ²⁹ Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination. ³⁰ Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.

³³ And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

¹⁹ When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

²⁷ The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’

²⁶ if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, ²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, ²⁸ this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.

³ When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place—

⁶ By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth. ⁷ He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses. ⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere Him. ⁹ For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.

² Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.

³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works.

⁹⁰ Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.

¹³ For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word, ⁹ mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, ¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle, crawling creatures and flying birds, ¹¹ kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, ¹² young men and maidens, old and young together.

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁴ Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.

²¹ “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.

⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

²⁹ Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

¹ “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”

¹ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

¹⁵ So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁶ He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

²⁷ By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.

²¹ When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

²⁹ and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.

¹⁵ They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

²³ He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

¹² So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

⁹ All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.

²⁹ Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

⁹ All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame. ¹⁰ Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing? ¹¹ Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame. ¹² The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint. ¹³ The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. ¹⁴ He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread; he even fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. ¹⁶ He burns half of it in the fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. Indeed, he warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” ¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.” ¹⁸ They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand. ¹⁹ And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” ²⁰ He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

² For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you.

⁵ This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me, and followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?

³ For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman. ⁴ They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter. ⁵ Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.” ⁶ There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power. ⁷ Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. ⁸ But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

¹⁴ Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them. ¹⁵ They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁹ O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.

⁸ For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.

¹⁵ The foe pulls all of them up with a hook; he catches them in his dragnet, and gathers them in his fishing net; so he rejoices gladly. ¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

¹⁵ When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He fell facedown at Jesus’ feet in thanksgiving to Him—and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ “Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

¹⁰ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”

⁹ so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

⁷ And he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of waters.”

⁴ Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

¹⁴ Like clouds and wind without rain is the man who boasts of gifts never given.

¹² Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹⁰ You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

⁸ How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception? ⁹ The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?

¹⁴ Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.

²³ But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

¹⁹ For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

¹⁵ So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful ¹⁶ that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female, ¹⁷ of any beast that is on the earth or bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below.

⁸ You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.

²⁰ They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.

⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; ⁶ they have ears, but cannot hear; they have noses, but cannot smell; ⁷ they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats. ⁸ Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. ¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; ¹⁷ they have ears, but cannot hear; nor is there breath in their mouths. ¹⁸ Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.

¹⁸ To whom will you liken God? To what image will you compare Him?

¹³ The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

¹¹ Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.

¹⁰ So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.

²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

² You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

³ For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

²⁰ Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.

²² You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.

¹¹ But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me. ¹² So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone! ¹⁸ When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.

¹⁴ Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

⁴² But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

¹⁶ In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. ¹³ “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.

⁴ each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

²⁰ A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use. ²¹ So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work. ²² Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

¹⁹ And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.

¹ A Psalm of praise. Of David. I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever. ² Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.

²⁰ He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

²⁵ This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.

⁴ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.

¹⁸ What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

²⁴ No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

³⁷ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

⁸ “Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,

¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

⁹ For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

⁴ traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

⁵ They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!”

²² You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination. ²³ You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion. ²⁴ Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. ²⁵ Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. ²⁷ For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. ²⁸ So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you.

¹⁷ No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute. ¹⁸ You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.

²² While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

⁹ Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,

¹⁹ Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.

¹² For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

⁵ not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching

⁷ In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

¹⁰ These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.

¹³ If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

¹⁴ Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways. ¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

²⁹ For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD.

¹² and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! ¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.

¹⁶ Why should the fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

²² “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

³⁰ They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”

⁶ You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

²³ For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.

³² When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.

⁷ because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

³⁴ Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.

⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁵ We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

⁵ Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test? ⁶ And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test. ⁷ Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not that we will appear to have stood the test, but that you will do what is right, even if we appear to have failed.

⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

⁸ in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.

¹⁶ They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

⁸ So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper,

⁵ But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

⁷ All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:

²⁸ A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.

²⁰ Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.

¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.

²⁰ For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

³⁵ Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, “Rise up, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered; may those who hate You flee before You.”

¹⁰ But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.

¹⁸ If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined, ¹⁹ his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown, ²⁰ and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” ²¹ Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

¹⁶ ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹¹ And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”

² Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.

¹⁹ You have said, ‘Look, I have defeated Edom,’ and your heart has become proud and boastful. Now stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”

³ For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

⁶ They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.

¹⁵ Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.

⁴ They pour out arrogant words; all workers of iniquity boast.

⁷ All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!

⁸ O LORD our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, yet an avenger of their misdeeds.

³⁹ They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

³⁶ But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

²³ As the north wind brings forth rain, so a backbiting tongue brings angry looks.

¹⁷ As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.

⁷ Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.

⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil.

²³ Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.

³⁶ Some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.

¹⁷ Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;

²³ You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

²⁷ Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.

¹⁵ Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,

⁴ He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.

¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁸ With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

¹⁶ These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

¹⁴ So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. ¹⁸ Then they called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them. ¹⁹ The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? ²⁰ You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²² But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! ²⁴ For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ²⁵ So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’” ²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.” ²⁷ But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” ²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand. ³⁰ Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ ³³ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” ³⁶ But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.

² A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions.

¹¹ When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

⁸ The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.

¹⁶ “Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked.

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

¹¹ There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,

¹⁸ When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

³ They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies.

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this, and they promised to give him money. So Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

⁴⁸ So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.

¹ And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

²⁰ And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’

¹ You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ² And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³ So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴ Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

²¹ What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.