Matthew 10 Cross References - ISV

¹ Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles
Then Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and every illness. ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus.
⁵ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
These were the Twelve whom Jesus sent out after he had given them these instructions: “Don’t turn on to the road that leads to the unbelievers, and don’t enter Samaritan towns. ⁶ Instead, go to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel. ⁷ As you go, make this announcement: ‘The kingdom from heaven is near!’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. You have received without payment, so give without payment.
⁹ Don’t take any gold, silver, or copper in your moneybags, ¹⁰ or a traveling bag for the trip, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick, because a worker deserves his food.
¹¹ “Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is receptive in it and stay there until you leave. ¹² As you enter the house, greet its occupants. ¹³ If the household is receptive, let your blessing of peace come on it. But if it isn’t receptive, let your blessing of peace return to you. ¹⁴ If no one welcomes you or listens to your words, as you leave that house or town, shake its dust off your feet. ¹⁵ I tell all of you with certainty, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!”
¹⁶ Future Persecutions
“Pay attention, now! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Watch out for people who will hand you over to the local councils and whip you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ You will be brought before governors and kings because of me, to testify to them and to unbelievers. ¹⁹ When they hand you over, don’t worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, because in that hour what you are to say will be given to you. ²⁰ It won’t be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
²¹ “Brother will hand brother over for execution, and a father his child. Children will rebel against parents and have them put to death. ²² You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ So when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, because I tell all of you with certainty that you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
²⁴ “A disciple is not above his teacher, and a slave is not above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher and a slave to be like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they do the same to those of his household!”
²⁶ Fear God
“So never be afraid of them, because there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be made known. ²⁷ What I tell you in darkness you must speak in the daylight, and what is whispered in your ear you must shout from the housetops. ²⁸ Stop being afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Instead, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
²⁹ “Two sparrows are sold for a penny, aren’t they? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s permission. ³⁰ Indeed, even the hairs on your head have all been counted! ³¹ So stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows.”
³² Acknowledging the Messiah
“Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before people I, too, will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies me before people I, too, will deny before my Father in heaven.”
³⁴ Not Peace, but Division
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword! ³⁵ I came to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ A person’s enemies will include members of his own family.’
³⁷ The Cost of Discipleship
“The one who loves his father or mother more than me isn’t worthy of me, and the one who loves a son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me. ³⁸ The one who doesn’t take up his cross and follow me isn’t worthy of me. ³⁹ The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.”
⁴⁰ Rewards
“The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹ The one who receives a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² I tell all of you with certainty, whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple will never lose his reward.”

¹³ And never bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

²⁸ Jesus told them, “I tell all of you with certainty, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne in the renewed creation, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, governing the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was sitting at the table with the Twelve.

⁴⁷ Jesus is Arrested
Just then, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. A large crowd armed with swords and clubs was with him. They were from the high priests and elders of the people.

¹⁸ Then Jesus approached them and told them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

¹³ Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles
Then Jesus went up on a hillside and called to himself those whom he had decided on, and they approached him. ¹⁴ He appointed the Twelve, whom he called apostles, to accompany him, to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have the authority to drive out demons.

⁷ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
He called the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits. ⁸ He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick—no bread, no traveling bag, nothing in their moneybag. ⁹ They could wear sandals but not take along an extra shirt. ¹⁰ He told them repeatedly, “Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹ If any place will not welcome you and the people refuse to listen to you, when you leave, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” ¹² So they went and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They also kept driving out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.

¹⁷ These are the signs that will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons. they will speak in new languages. ¹⁸ and they will pick up snakes with their hands.Even if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; and they’ll place their hands on the sick, and they’ll recover.”

¹³ When daylight came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also called apostles:

¹ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. ² Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ³ He told them, “Don’t take anything along on your trip—no walking stick, traveling bag, bread, money, or even an extra shirt. ⁴ When you visit a home and stay there, and go out from there, ⁵ if people don’t welcome you, when you leave that city, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” ⁶ So they left and went from village to village, spreading the good news and healing diseases everywhere.

¹⁹ Look! I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to destroy all the enemy’s power, and nothing will ever hurt you.

¹⁵ because I will give you the ability to speak, along with wisdom, that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

⁴⁹ I am sending to you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

²⁷ John replied, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven.

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands.

⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “I chose you, the Twelve, didn’t I? Yet one of you is a devil.”

² For you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.

²¹ Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.”

⁸ But you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

¹⁵ and you killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses to that. ¹⁶ It is his name—that is, by faith in his name—that has healed this man whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

¹⁵ But the evil spirit told them, “Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”

¹ The Vision of a Woman Dressed with the SunA spectacular sign appeared in the sky: a woman dressed with the sun, who had the moon under her feet and a victor’s crown of twelve stars on her head.

¹² It had a large, high wall with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb were written on them.

¹⁸ Jesus Calls Four Fishermen
While Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon (also called Peter) and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, because they were fishermen.

²¹ Going on from there he saw two other brothers—James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee repairing their nets. When he called them,

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”
¹⁷ Then Jesus told him, “How blessed you are, Simon son of Jonah, since flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, though my Father in heaven has. ¹⁸ I tell you that you are Peter, and it is on this rock that I will build my congregation, and the powers of hell will not conquer it.

¹ Jesus’ Appearance is Changed
Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

²⁰ The Request of James and John
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor.

³⁷ Taking Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, he began to be grieved and troubled.

¹⁶ Jesus Calls His First Disciples
While Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Jesus told them, “Follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of people!”

²⁹ Jesus Heals Many People
After they left the synagogue, they went directly to the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John.

¹⁶ He appointed the Twelve: Simon (whom he named Peter), ¹⁷ Zebedee’s sons James and his brother John (whom he named Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananaean, ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

³ Cults, Revolutions, Famines, and Earthquakes
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives facing the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew were asking him privately,

¹⁰ and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus told Simon, “Stop being afraid. From now on you will be catching people.”

¹³ When daylight came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also called apostles: ¹⁴ Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot), ¹⁶ Judas (the son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).

¹⁰ Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People
The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. Then he took them away with him privately to a city called Bethsaida.

⁴⁹ That is why the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles. They will kill some of them and persecute others,’

⁸ So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover meal.”

¹⁴ The Lord’s Supper
Now when the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table, along with his apostles.

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Anointed One!” (which is translated “Messiah”).
⁴² He led Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him intently and said, “You are Simon, John’s son. You will be called Cephas!” (which is translated “Peter”).

⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s brother, told him,

²² Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

²³ One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus kept loving, had been sitting very close to him.

² So she ran off and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus kept loving. She told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two of his other disciples were together.

²⁰ Jesus and the Beloved DisciplePeter turned around and noticed the disciple whom Jesus kept loving following them. He was the one who had put his head on Jesus’ chest at the supper and had asked, “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”

²⁴ This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them down. We know that his testimony is true.

¹³ When they came into the city, these men went to the upstairs room where they had been staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

²⁶ So they drew lots for them, and when the lot fell on Matthias, he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.

¹ A Crippled Man is HealedOne afternoon, Peter and John were on their way to the Temple for the three o’clock prayer time.

² He even had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword.

⁷ Next he was seen by James, then by all the apostles,

¹¹ And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers,

¹ The Messiah is Superior to MosesTherefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.

¹ GreetingsFrom: Peter, an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah.
To: The exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

¹ GreetingsFrom: Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus, the Messiah.
To: Those who have received faith that is as valuable as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.

³ What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah. ⁴ We are writing these things so that our joy may be full.

¹ Greetings from JohnFrom: The Elder
To: The chosen lady and her children, whom I genuinely love, and not only I but also all who know the truth,

¹ Greetings from JohnFrom: The Elder
To: My dear friend Gaius, whom I genuinely love.

¹ The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah to the Seven ChurchesThis is the revelation of Jesus the Messiah, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must happen soon. He made it known by sending his messenger to his servant John,

⁹ John’s Vision of the MessiahI am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.

²⁰ Be happy about her, heaven, saints, apostles, and prophets, for God has condemned her for you!”

⁸ The Vision of an Exhortation to Worship GodI, John, heard and saw these things. When I had heard and seen them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing me these things.

⁹ Jesus Calls Matthew
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s desk and told him, “Follow me.” So he got up and followed him.

⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

¹⁴ As he was walking along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax collector’s desk. Jesus told him, “Follow me!” So Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananaean,

²⁷ Jesus Calls Levi
After that, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector’s desk. He told him, “Follow me!”

⁴³ Jesus Calls Philip and NathanielThe next day, Jesus decided to go away to Galilee, where he found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.
⁴⁵ Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote—Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
⁴⁶ Nathaniel asked him, “From Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?”
Philip told him, “Come and see!”

⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ Jesus said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.
⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread isn’t enough for each of them to have a little.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, told his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too, so that we may die with him!”

²¹ They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
²² Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

⁹ “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?” Jesus asked him. “The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked him, “Lord, how is it that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

²⁴ Jesus Appears to ThomasThomas, one of the Twelve (called the Twin), wasn’t with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he told them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into them, and put my hand into his side, I’ll never believe!”
²⁶ A week later, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he told Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, but believe.”
²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
²⁹ Jesus told him, “Is it because you’ve seen me that you have believed? How blessed are those who have never seen me and yet have believed!”

¹⁷ He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, “Tell this to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went somewhere else.

¹³ After Paul and Barnabas had finished speaking, James responded, “Brothers, listen to me:

¹⁸ The next day, Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹ But I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother.

⁹ So when James, Cephas, and John (who were reputed to be leaders) recognized the grace that had been given me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised.

¹ GreetingsFrom: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
To: The twelve tribes in the Dispersion.
Greetings.

¹ GreetingsFrom: Jude, a servant of Jesus the Messiah, and yet a brother of James.
To: Those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus, the Messiah.

¹⁴ Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the high priests

³ The Death of Judas
Then Judas, who had betrayed him, regretted what had happened when he saw that Jesus was condemned. He brought the 30 pieces of silver back to the high priests and elders,

¹⁰ Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the high priests to betray Jesus to them.

⁴³ Jesus is Arrested
Just then, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. A crowd armed with swords and clubs was with him. They were from the high priests, the scribes, and the elders.

³ But Satan went into Judas called Iscariot, who belonged to the circle of the Twelve.

⁴⁷ Jesus is Arrested
While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd arrived. The man called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them, and he came close to Jesus to kiss him.

⁷¹ Now he was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, because this man was going to betray him, even though he was one of the Twelve.

² By supper time, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him.

²⁶ Jesus answered, “He is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish.”
Then he took a piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ After he had taken the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus told him, “Do quickly what you are going to do!” ²⁸ Now no one at the table knew why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹ Some thought that, since Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the destitute. ³⁰ So Judas took the piece of bread, immediately went outside…and it was night.

² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas took a detachment of soldiers and some officers from the high priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
⁴ Then Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen, went forward and asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
⁵ They answered him, “Jesus from Nazareth.”
Jesus told them, “I AM.” Judas, the man who betrayed him, was standing with them.

¹⁶ “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the voice of David about Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus, ¹⁷ because he was one of our number and was appointed to share in this ministry.” ¹⁸ (Now this man bought a field with the money he got for his crime. Falling on his face, he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out. ¹⁹ This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that this field is called in their language Hakeldama, that is, “The Field of Blood”.) ²⁰ “For in the Book of Psalms it is written, ‘Let his estate be desolate, and let no one live on it,’ and, ‘Let someone else take over his office,’

²⁵ to serve in this office of apostle, from which Judas left to go to his own place.”

²⁴ Assyria Supplants the Northern KingdomBecause the king of Assyria brought captives from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-vaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelis, the settlers possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ When they first began to live there, the settlers did not fear the LORD, so he sent lions among them, and they killed a few of them. ²⁶ As a result, they reported to the king of Assyria, “Because the nations whom you exiled to live in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land, he has sent lions among them. Look how the lions are killing them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land!”
²⁷ So the king of Assyria issued this order: “Take one of the priests whom you carried away and let him go back and live there. Let him teach them the law of the god of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria went to live in Bethel to teach them how they ought to fear the LORD.
²⁹ Assyrian Settlers Create Lasting CorruptionNevertheless, each nation continued to craft their own gods and install them in the temples on the high places that the people of Samaria had constructed—every nation in their own cities where they continued to live. ³⁰ Settlers from Babylon built Succoth-benoth, settlers from Cuth built Nergal, settlers from Hamath built Ashima, ³¹ and settlers from Avva built Nibhaz and Tartak. The residents of Sephar-vaim burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sephar-vaim.
³² Because they feared the LORD, they also appointed from among themselves priests for the high places who acted on their behalf in the temples on the high places. ³³ While they continued to fear the LORD, they served their own gods, following the custom of the nations whom they had carried away from there. ³⁴ To this very day, they still follow the former customs: they don’t fear the LORD and they don’t live in accordance with the statutes, ordinances, laws, or commandments that the LORD had given to the descendants of Jacob—whom he renamed Israel— ³⁵ and with whom the LORD had made a covenant when he gave these orders to them: “You are not to fear other gods, bow down to them, serve them, or sacrifice to them. ³⁶ Instead, it is to be the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, showing great power and public demonstrations of might, whom you are to fear, worship, and to whom you are to offer sacrifice. ³⁷ Furthermore, you are to be careful to observe forever the statutes, ordinances, law, and the commandment that he wrote for you. And you are not to fear other gods. ³⁸ You are not to forget the covenant that I’ve made with you, and you are not to fear other gods. ³⁹ But you are to fear the LORD, and he will deliver you from the control of all your enemies.”
⁴⁰ But they wouldn’t listen. Instead, they did what they had been doing before. ⁴¹ These nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their descendants did the same thing, as did their grandchildren. Just as their ancestors had done, they also do the same thing to this day.

¹⁵ “O Land of Zebulun and Land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the unbelievers!

³ He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come.

² Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

⁵² So he sent messengers on ahead of him. On their way they went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. ⁵³ But the people would not welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When his disciples James and John observed this rejection, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

¹ The Mission of the SeventyAfter this, the Lord appointed 70 other disciples and was about to send them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place that he intended to go.

³³ But as he was traveling along, a Samaritan came across the man. When the Samaritan saw him, he was moved with compassion.

¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now that man was a Samaritan.

⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

⁹ The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.

²⁰ Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain. But you Jews say that the place where people should worship is in Jerusalem.”

²² You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We Jews know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. ²³ Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

³⁹ Now many of the Samaritans of that town believed in Jesus because the woman had testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.”
⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days.

³⁵ Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we won’t be able to find him? Surely he’s not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?

⁴⁸ Jesus is Superior to AbrahamThe Jewish leaders replied to him, “Surely we’re right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, aren’t we?”

²¹ Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

¹ The Church is ScatteredNow Saul heartily approved of putting Stephen to death. That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except for the apostles was scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.

⁵ Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began to preach the Messiah to the people. ⁶ The crowds, hearing his message and seeing the signs that he was doing, paid close attention to what was said by Philip. ⁷ Unclean spirits screamed with a loud voice as they came out of the many people they had possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. ⁸ As a result, there was great rejoicing in that city.
⁹ Now in that city there was a man named Simon. He was practicing occult arts and thrilling the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. ¹⁰ Everyone from the least to the greatest paid close attention to him, saying, “This is what we call the great power of God!” ¹¹ They paid careful attention to him because he had thrilled them for a long time with his occult performances. ¹² But when Philip proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and about the name of Jesus the Messiah, men and women believed and were baptized. ¹³ Even Simon believed, and after he was baptized he became devoted to Philip. He was amazed to see the signs and great miracles that were happening.
¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵ They went down and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ Before this, he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me this power too, so that when I lay my hands on someone, he will receive the Holy Spirit.”
²⁰ But Peter told him, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s free gift with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in what we’re saying, because your heart isn’t right with God. ²² So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you’re being poisoned by bitterness and you’re a prisoner of wickedness!”
²⁴ Simon answered, “Both of you pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you have said will happen to me.”
²⁵ After they had given their testimony and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, continuing to proclaim the good news in many Samaritan villages.

⁴⁵ Then the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the gentiles, too,

²¹ “Then he told me, ‘Go, because I’ll send you far away to the gentiles.’”
²² Up to this point they listened to him, but then they began to shout, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! He’s not fit to go on living!” ²³ While they were yelling, tossing their coats around, and throwing dirt into the air,

⁸ For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors, ⁹ so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”

¹⁶ as they try to keep us from telling the gentiles how they can be saved. As a result, they are constantly adding to the number of sins they have committed. However, wrath has overtaken them at last!

¹⁷⁶ I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come find your servant, for I do not forget your commands.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁶ My people have become lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them toward the mountains. They go from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.

¹⁷ Hope for Israel“Israel is a scattered flock, driven out by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria, and then afterward King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnawed his bones.

⁶ My sheep have gone wandering on all of the mountains, on all of the hills, and throughout every high place in the whole world, with no one to look for them or go out in search of them.

⁸ ‘As certainly as I’m alive and living, my sheep have truly become victims, food for all of the wild animals because there are no shepherds. My shepherds did not go searching for my flock. Instead, the shepherds fed themselves, and my flock they would not feed!’

¹⁶ ‘I’m going to seek both the lost as well as the scattered, and bring them both back so their broken bones can be set and the sick can be healed. But in righteousness I’ll exterminate the fat and the stiff-necked.’”

²⁴ But he replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”
²⁵ Then she came and fell down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
²⁶ He replied, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”

¹⁰ “See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones, because I tell you, their angels in heaven always have access to my Father in heaven.

³ So he told them this parable:
⁴ “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. He leaves the 99 in the wilderness and looks for the one that is lost until he finds it, doesn’t he? ⁵ When he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶ Then he goes home, calls his friends and neighbors together, and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I’ve found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need to repent.”
⁸ The Story of the Diligent Housewife“Or suppose a woman has ten coins and loses one of them. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it, doesn’t she? ⁹ When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin that I lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you that there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

²⁶ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, “We had to speak God’s word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles.

⁶ But when they began to oppose him and insult him, he shook out his clothes in protest and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”

²⁰ Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea—and after that the gentiles—to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance.

²⁵ They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: “The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah! ²⁶ He said, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will listen and listen but never understand, and you will look and look but never see! ²⁷ For this people’s minds have become stupid, and their ears can barely hear, and they have shut their eyes so that they may never see with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn and let me heal them.”’
²⁸ You must understand that this message about God’s salvation has been sent to the gentiles, and they will listen.”

¹¹ The Salvation of the GentilesAnd so I ask, “They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?” Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the gentiles to make the Jews jealous. ¹² Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the gentiles, how much more will their full participation mean!
¹³ I am speaking to you gentiles. Because I am an apostle to the gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I can make my people jealous and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection results in reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance bring but life from the dead?

²⁵ You were “like sheep that kept going astray,” but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

¹ Good News of Deliverance “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners;

² “Repent, because the kingdom from heaven is near!”

¹⁷ From then on, Jesus began to announce, “Repent, because the kingdom from heaven is near!”

¹ When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he left there to teach and preach in their home towns.

¹¹ I tell all of you with certainty, among those born of women no one has appeared who is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom from heaven is greater than he.
¹² “From the days of John the Baptist until the present, the kingdom from heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people have been attacking it,

³¹ Which of the two did the father’s will?”
They answered, “The first one.”
Jesus told them, “I tell all of you with certainty, tax collectors and prostitutes will get into God’s kingdom ahead of you!

⁴³ That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it.

¹³ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t allow those who are trying to enter to go in.

¹² So they went and preached that people should repent.

⁶ So they left and went from village to village, spreading the good news and healing diseases everywhere.

⁶⁰ But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁹ heal the sick that are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you!’ ¹⁰ But whenever you go into a town and people don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘We’re wiping off your town’s dust that clings to our feet in protest against you! But realize this: the kingdom of God is near!’

¹⁶ “The Law and the Prophets remained until John. Since then, the good news about the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone entering it is under attack.

² He came to Jesus at night and told him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, because no one can perform these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.”

² They were greatly disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people and announcing that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead.

²⁵ When Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him, bowed down at his feet, and began to worship him.

³¹ He continued to preach about the kingdom of God and to teach boldly and freely about the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

¹⁵ Gehazi’s Greed is PunishedNaaman went back to the man of God, along with his entire entourage, and stood before him. “Please look!” he said. “I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel! So please, take a present from your servant.”
¹⁶ But Elisha replied, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not receive anything from you.” Though Naaman urged him to take it, Elisha declined.

²⁰ Gehazi, the attendant to Elisha, the man of God, told himself, “Look how my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman! He declined to take from him what he brought. As the LORD lives, I’m going to run after him and get something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi ran after Naaman.
When Naaman noticed someone running after him, he came down from his chariot, greeted him and asked, “Is everything all right?”
²² Gehazi said, “Everything’s all right. My master sent me to tell you, ‘Just now two men from the Guild of Prophets have arrived from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them each a talent of silver bullion and two sets of clothes.’”
²³ But Naaman said, “Please accept my invitation to take two talents of silver.” He urged him, binding two talents of silver in two bags, along with two sets of clothes. He placed them in the care of two of his young men, and they went on ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴ When he arrived at the stronghold, Gehazi took the bags from their custody and hid them away in the house. Then he sent the men away and they left.
²⁵ Later he went to address his master. Elisha asked him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”
“Your servant went nowhere in particular,” he said.
²⁶ But Elisha responded, “Didn’t my heart break as the man was turning from his chariot to greet you? Is now the time to receive money? To receive clothes? And olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, servants, or female attendants? ²⁷ Naaman’s leprosy will plague you and your descendants forever!” As he left Elisha’s presence, he was infected with leprosy that looked like white snow.

¹ Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles
Then Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and every illness.

¹⁸ and they will pick up snakes with their hands.Even if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; and they’ll place their hands on the sick, and they’ll recover.”

⁹ heal the sick that are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you!’

⁶ However, Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I’ll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth, walk!”

⁹ If we are being questioned today for a good deed done for someone who was sick or to learn how this man was healed, ¹⁰ you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.

³⁰ as you stretch out your hand to heal and to perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

¹² The Apostles Perform Many MiraclesNow many signs and wonders were being performed by the apostles among the people, who were gathered together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ None of the others dared join them, although the rest of the people continued to hold them in high regard. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, believers were being added to the Lord in increasing numbers—both men and women. ¹⁵ As a result, people kept carrying their sick into the streets and placing them on stretchers and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he went by.

¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me this power too, so that when I lay my hands on someone, he will receive the Holy Spirit.”
²⁰ But Peter told him, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s free gift with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in what we’re saying, because your heart isn’t right with God. ²² So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you’re being poisoned by bitterness and you’re a prisoner of wickedness!”

³³ I never desired anyone’s silver, gold, or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who were with me. ³⁵ In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

⁸ He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick—no bread, no traveling bag, nothing in their moneybag. ⁹ They could wear sandals but not take along an extra shirt. ¹⁰ He told them repeatedly, “Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹ If any place will not welcome you and the people refuse to listen to you, when you leave, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

³ He told them, “Don’t take anything along on your trip—no walking stick, traveling bag, bread, money, or even an extra shirt. ⁴ When you visit a home and stay there, and go out from there, ⁵ if people don’t welcome you, when you leave that city, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁴ Don’t carry a wallet, a traveling bag, or sandals, and don’t greet anyone on the way.
⁵ “Whatever house you go into, first say, ‘May there be peace in this house.’ ⁶ If a peaceful person lives there, your greeting of peace will remain with him. But if that’s not the case, your greeting will come back to you. ⁷ Stay with the same family, eating and drinking whatever they provide, because the worker deserves his pay. Don’t move from house to house.
⁸ “Whenever you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat whatever they serve you, ⁹ heal the sick that are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you!’ ¹⁰ But whenever you go into a town and people don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘We’re wiping off your town’s dust that clings to our feet in protest against you! But realize this: the kingdom of God is near!’ ¹² I tell you, on the last day it will be easier for Sodom than for that town!”

³⁵ Be Prepared for TroubleThen Jesus asked his disciples, “When I sent you out without a wallet, traveling bag, or sandals, you didn’t lack anything, did you?”
They replied, “Nothing at all.”

⁷ Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its grapes? Or who takes care of a flock and does not drink any of its milk? ⁸ I am not saying this on human authority, am I? The Law says the same thing, doesn’t it? ⁹ For in the Law of Moses it is written, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” God is not only concerned about oxen, is he? ¹⁰ Isn’t he really speaking for our benefit? Yes, this was written for our benefit, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? ¹² If others enjoy this right over you, don’t we have a stronger claim? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we tolerate everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of the Messiah.
¹³ You know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple and that those who serve at the altar get their share of its offerings, don’t you? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who proclaim the gospel should make their living from the gospel.
¹⁵ But I have not used any of these rights, and I’m not writing this so that they may be applied in my case. I would rather die than let anyone deprive me of my reason for boasting. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn’t preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I preach voluntarily, I get a reward, but if I am unwilling to do it, I am still entrusted with that obligation. ¹⁸ What, then, is my reward? It is to be able to preach the gospel free of charge, and so I never resort to demanding my rights when I’m preaching the gospel.
¹⁹ Although I am free from everyone’s expectations, I have made myself a servant to all of them to win more people. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the Law I became like a man under the Law, in order to win those under the Law (although I myself am not under the Law). ²¹ To those who do not have the Law, I became like a man who does not have the Law in order to win those who do not have the Law. However, I am not free from God’s Law, but I’m subject to the Messiah’s law. ²² To the weak I became weak in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some of them. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel in order to have a share in its blessings.
²⁴ You know that in a race all the runners run but only one wins the prize, don’t you? You must run in such a way that you may be victorious. ²⁵ Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that never fades. ²⁶ That is the way I run, with a clear goal in mind. That is the way I fight, not like someone shadow boxing. ²⁷ No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified.

⁷ Saul told the young man, “Look, we could go, but what could we bring the man? The bread is gone from our bags, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have with us?”

⁴⁰ He took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the pouch in his shepherd’s bag. He approached the Philistine with his sling in his hand.

¹¹ He answered them, “The person who has two coats must share with the one who doesn’t have any, and the person who has food must do the same.”

⁴ We have the right to earn our food, don’t we? ⁵ We have the right to take a believing wife with us like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas, don’t we? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to keep on working for a living? ⁷ Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its grapes? Or who takes care of a flock and does not drink any of its milk? ⁸ I am not saying this on human authority, am I? The Law says the same thing, doesn’t it? ⁹ For in the Law of Moses it is written, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” God is not only concerned about oxen, is he? ¹⁰ Isn’t he really speaking for our benefit? Yes, this was written for our benefit, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? ¹² If others enjoy this right over you, don’t we have a stronger claim? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we tolerate everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of the Messiah.
¹³ You know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple and that those who serve at the altar get their share of its offerings, don’t you? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who proclaim the gospel should make their living from the gospel.

⁶ The person who is taught the word should share all his goods with his teacher. ⁷ Stop being deceived; God is not to be ridiculed. A person harvests whatever he plants:

¹⁷ Elders and Their DutiesElders who handle their duties well should be considered worthy of double compensation, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out grain,” and, “A worker deserves his pay.”

¹³ When you come, bring the coat I left with Carpus in Troas, as well as the scrolls and especially the parchments.

¹ Sodom’s DepravityThe two angels entered Sodom at sunset while Lot was sitting in the gate area of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up, greeted them, bowed low with his face to the ground, ² and said, “Look, my lords! Please come inside your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and be on your way.”
But they responded, “No, we would rather spend the night in the town square.”
³ But Lot kept urging them strongly, so they turned aside and entered his house. He prepared a festival and baked unleavened flat bread for them, and they ate.

¹⁶ Just then, an old man was coming out of the fields that evening from work. The man was from the mountainous region of Ephraim and had been staying in Gibeah, even though the men of that place were descendants of Benjamin. ¹⁷ As the old man looked up and saw the traveling man in the public square of the city, he asked, “Now then, where are you headed? And where are you from?”
¹⁸ He replied, “We’re traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote part of the mountainous region of Ephraim, because I’m from there, and I’ve been visiting Bethlehem in Judah. I’m going home now, but no one will take me into his home. ¹⁹ Meanwhile, we also have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me, for this young woman servant, and for the young man who is with your servants. We don’t need anything else.”
²⁰ The old man replied, “Don’t be alarmed. I’ll take care of all your needs. Just don’t spend the night in the public square.” ²¹ So he took him into his home and fed the donkeys while they refreshed themselves and had dinner.”

⁹ “Get up, move to Zarephath in Sidon, and stay there. Look! I’ve commanded a widow to sustain you there.”
¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance to the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he asked her, “Please, may I have some water in a cup so I can have a drink.” ¹¹ While she was on her way to get the water, he called out to her, “Would you please also bring me a piece of bread while you’re at it?”
¹² “As the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have so much as a muffin, just a handful of flour in a bowl and some oil left in a bottle. Now I’m going to find some sticks so I can cook a last meal for my son and for me. Then we’re going to eat it and die.”
¹³ But Elijah told her, “You can stop being afraid. Go and do what you said, but first make me a muffin and bring it to me. Then make a meal for yourself and for your son, ¹⁴ because this is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘That jar of flour will not run out, nor will that bottle of oil become empty until the very day that the LORD sends rain on the surface of the ground.’”
¹⁵ So she went out and did precisely what Elijah told her to do. As a result, Elijah, the widow, and her son were fed for days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour never ran out and the bottle of oil never became empty, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.
¹⁷ Elijah Restores the Widow’s SonSometime later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. In fact, his illness became so severe that he died. ¹⁸ “What do we have in common, you man of God?” she accused Elijah. “You came to me so you could uncover my guilt! And you’re responsible for the death of my son!”
¹⁹ “Give me your son,” he replied. Then he took him from her lap, carried him upstairs to the room where he lived, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he called out to the LORD and asked him, “LORD my God, have you also brought evil to this dear widow with whom I am living as her guest? Have you caused the death of her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, please cause the soul of this little boy to return to him.”
²² The LORD listened to Elijah, and the soul of the little boy returned to him, and he revived. ²³ Then Elijah took the little boy downstairs from the upper chamber back into the main house and delivered him to his mother. “Look,” Elijah told her, “your son is alive.”
²⁴ The woman responded to Elijah, “Now at last I’ve really learned that you are a man of God and that what you have to say about the LORD is the truth.”

³² No stranger ever spent the night in the street, because I opened my doors to travelers.”

¹⁰ He told them repeatedly, “Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you leave that place.

⁴ When you visit a home and stay there, and go out from there,

⁷ Stay with the same family, eating and drinking whatever they provide, because the worker deserves his pay. Don’t move from house to house.
⁸ “Whenever you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat whatever they serve you,

³⁸ Jesus Visits Mary and MarthaNow as they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what he was saying. ⁴⁰ But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don’t you? Then tell her to help me.”
⁴¹ The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. ⁴² But there’s only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her.”

⁷ But all the people who saw this began to complain: “Jesus is going to be the guest of a notorious sinner!”

¹⁵ When she and her family were baptized, she urged us, “If you are convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she continued to insist that we do so.

¹ Paul in CorinthAfter this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them, ³ and because they had the same trade he stayed with them. They worked together because they were tentmakers by trade.

⁷ After all, they went on their trip for the sake of the Name, accepting no support from gentiles. ⁸ Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can become genuine helpers with them.

⁶ Then say, ‘May you live long. Peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that you have.

⁵ “Whatever house you go into, first say, ‘May there be peace in this house.’ ⁶ If a peaceful person lives there, your greeting of peace will remain with him. But if that’s not the case, your greeting will come back to you.

³⁶ He has sent his word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus the Messiah. This man is the Lord of everyone.

²⁰ Therefore, we are the Messiah’s representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God!”

¹⁴ Instead, I hope to see you soon and speak face to face.
May peace be with you! Your friends greet you. Greet each of our friends by name.

¹³ But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth, humbled myself with fasting, and prayed from my heart repeatedly for them.

⁶ If a peaceful person lives there, your greeting of peace will remain with him. But if that’s not the case, your greeting will come back to you.

¹⁶ To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a living fragrance. Who is qualified for this?

¹³ I also shook my robes, and said, “May God shake out every man from his house and his possessions who does not keep this promise. May he be emptied out and shaken just like this.”
All the assembly said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD. And the people kept their promise.

⁴⁰ Rewards
“The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹ The one who receives a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

⁵ and whoever receives a little child like this in my name receives me.”

¹¹ If any place will not welcome you and the people refuse to listen to you, when you leave, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

³⁷ “Whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

⁵ if people don’t welcome you, when you leave that city, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁴⁸ Then he told them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, because the one who is least among all of you is the one who is greatest.”

²⁰ Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the one who receives whomever I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me.”

⁵¹ So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

²⁶ I therefore declare to you today that I’m not responsible for the blood of any of you, ²⁷ because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God.

⁸ Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

⁴⁸ Sins of Sodom“As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “your sister Sodom and her daughters didn’t do what you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹ Look! This was the sin of your sister Sodom and her daughters: Pride, too much food, undisturbed peace, and failure to help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ In their arrogance, they committed detestable practices in my presence, so when I saw it, I removed them. ⁵¹ Samaria didn’t commit half of your sins—you practiced more detestable deeds than they did! You’ve caused your sister to be more righteous than you, because of the detestable practices that you’ve committed. ⁵² So now, bear your own shame as you mediate for your sisters. The sins that you’ve committed are more detestable than theirs. That makes them more righteous than you. Indeed, be ashamed and bear your reproach, because you’ve made your sisters to be more righteous than you.”
⁵³ A Change in Circumstances“I’ll bring them back from their captivity—that is, from the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, along with the captivity of Samaria and her daughters and the captivity of your captives among them. ⁵⁴ But you’ll continue to bear your own reproach and be humiliated for everything that you’ve done. You’ll be a comfort to them. ⁵⁵ Your sister Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status. Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status. Then you and your daughters will be restored to your former status.
⁵⁶ “When you were being so arrogant, you never once mentioned your sister Sodom

¹⁸ because I tell all of you with certainty that until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law until everything has been accomplished.

²² Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgment Day than for you!
²³ “And you, Capernaum! You won’t be lifted up to heaven, will you? You’ll go down to Hell! Because if the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on Judgment Day than for you!”

³⁶ I tell you, on Judgment Day people will give an account for every thoughtless word they have uttered,

³⁴ I tell all of you with certainty, this generation won’t disappear until these things happen. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”

²² “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The person who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ If I hadn’t done among them the actions that no one else did, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

⁶ and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them;

⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment,

⁷ Now by that same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

¹⁷ This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him.

¹ The Temptation and FallNow the Shining One was more clever than any animal of the field that the LORD God had made. It asked the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree of the garden’?”

¹³ Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What did you do?”
“The Shining One misled me,” the woman answered, “so I ate.”

³ Get going! See, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

²⁹ I know that when I’m gone, savage wolves will come among you and not spare the flock.

¹⁸ because such people are not serving the Messiah our Lord, but their own desires. By their smooth talk and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. ¹⁹ For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

²⁰ Brothers, stop being childish in your thinking. Be like infants with respect to evil, but think like adults.

¹² Paul’s Reason for BoastingFor this is what we boast about: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with pure motives and godly sincerity, without earthly wisdom but with God’s grace—especially toward you.

²⁰ We are trying to avoid any criticism of the way we are administering this great undertaking.

³ However, I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from sincere and pure devotion to the Messiah.

¹⁴ And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

¹⁵ Wise BehaviorSo, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of your time because the times are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and innocent, God’s children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world

⁹ The Messiah is Above AllFor this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

⁵ Behave wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of your time.

¹⁰ You and God are witnesses of how pure, honest, and blameless our conduct was among you who believe.

²² Keep away from every kind of evil.

² If the guilty person deserves a beating, the judge will make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes fit for his crime. ³ But he must not be beaten more than 40 lashes, because if he receives more than 40 lashes, your brother will be humiliated in your eyes.

⁵ Don’t trust your friends, don’t confide in a companion, watch what you say to your wife.

²² But I say to you, anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to punishment. And whoever says to his brother ‘Raka!’ will be subject to the Council. And whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to hell fire.

¹⁹ Then they will hand him over to unbelievers to be mocked, whipped, and crucified, but on the third day he will be raised.”

³⁴ “That is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.

⁹ Future Persecution, Apostasy, and Evangelism
“Then they’ll hand you over to suffer and will kill you, and you’ll be hated by all the nations because of my name. ¹⁰ Then many people will fall away, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

⁵⁹ Meanwhile, the high priests and the whole Council were looking for false testimony against Jesus in order to have him put to death.

⁹ Future Persecution and Evangelism
“As for yourselves, be on your guard! People will hand you over to local councils, and you will be beaten in their synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings to testify to them because of me.

¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.

¹¹ When people bring you before synagogue leaders, rulers, or authorities, don’t worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,

¹² Future Persecutions
“But before all these things take place, people will arrest you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. ¹³ It will give you an opportunity to testify.

⁴⁷ So the high priests and the Pharisees assembled the Council and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs.

² You’ll be thrown out of the synagogues. Yes, a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he’s serving God.

⁶ with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and the rest of the high priest’s family. ⁷ They made Peter and John stand in front of them and began asking, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
⁸ Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, told them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being questioned today for a good deed done for someone who was sick or to learn how this man was healed, ¹⁰ you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹ He is ‘the stone that was rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.’
¹² There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”
¹³ Now when the Jewish leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could not say anything against them. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to leave the Council and began to discuss the matter among themselves. ¹⁶ They said, “What should we do with these men? For it’s obvious to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable sign has been done by them, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But to keep it from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them never again to speak to anyone in this name.”
¹⁸ So they called Peter and John back in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, “You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, ²⁰ for we cannot stop talking about what we’ve seen and heard.”
²¹ So they threatened Peter and John even more and then let them go. They couldn’t find any way to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened, ²² since the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than 40 years old.

²⁶ So the commander of the Temple guards went with his men to bring them back without force, because they were afraid of being stoned to death by the people. ²⁷ When they brought them back, they made them stand before the Council, and the high priest began to question them. ²⁸ He said, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name, didn’t we? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man’s blood on us!”
²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus to life after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend 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 keep on obeying him.”
³³ When the Council heard this, they became furious and wanted to kill them. ³⁴ But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. ³⁵ Then he told them, “Fellow Israelis, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. ³⁶ For in the recent past Theudas appeared, claiming that he was important, and about 400 men joined him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared. ³⁷ After that man, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and got people to follow him. He, too, died, and all his followers were scattered.
³⁸ “I’m telling you to keep away from these men for now. Leave them alone, because if this plan or movement is of human origin, it will fail. ³⁹ However, if it’s from God, you won’t be able to stop them, and you may even discover that you are fighting against God!”
So they were convinced by him. ⁴⁰ After calling in the apostles and beating them, they again ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus and let them go. ⁴¹ They left the Council, rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name. ⁴² Every day in the Temple and from house to house they kept teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.

⁵ Now when an attempt was made by both gentiles and Jews, along with their authorities, to mistreat and stone them, ⁶ Paul and Barnabas found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding territory.

¹⁴ Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed there.

¹⁹ “I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I kept imprisoning and beating those who believe in you.

¹ Paul Defends HimselfPaul looked straight at the Council and said, “Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty before God up to this very day.”
² Then the high priest Ananias ordered the men standing near him to strike him on the mouth. ³ At this Paul told him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there and judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”
⁴ The men standing near him asked, “Do you mean to insult God’s high priest?”
⁵ Paul answered, “I didn’t realize, brothers, that he is the high priest. After all, it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”
⁶ When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I’m on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected.”
⁷ After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided, ⁸ because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.
⁹ There was a great deal of shouting until some of the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and argued forcefully, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
¹⁰ The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks. ¹¹ That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too.”
¹² Some Jews Plot to Kill PaulIn the morning, the Jewish leaders formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink anything before they had killed Paul. ¹³ More than 40 men formed this conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the high priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now then, you and the Council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to look into his case more carefully, but before he arrives we’ll be ready to kill him.”
¹⁶ But the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, so he came and got into the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him.”
¹⁸ So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
¹⁹ The tribune took him by the hand, stepped aside to be alone with him, and asked, “What have you got to tell me?”
²⁰ He answered, “The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully. ²¹ Don’t believe them, because more than 40 of them are planning to ambush him. They’ve taken an oath not to eat or drink before they’ve killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”
²² The tribune dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell anyone that he had notified him.

¹¹ I would even punish them frequently in every synagogue and try to make them blaspheme. Raging furiously against them, I would hunt them down even in distant cities.

²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews 40 lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with a stick, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, and I drifted on the sea for a day and a night. ²⁶ I have traveled extensively and have been endangered from rivers, robbers, my own people, and gentiles. I’ve also been in danger in the city, in the open country, at sea, from false brothers,

² Beware of the dogs! Beware of the evil workers! Beware of the mutilators!

¹⁵ You, too, must watch out for him, for he violently opposed our message.

³⁶ Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment.

¹ The Nations and God’s Anointed Why are the nations in an uproar, and their people involved in a vain plot? ² As the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and his anointed one, they say, ³ “Let us tear off their shackles from us, and cast off their chains.” ⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. ⁵ In his anger he rebukes them, and in his wrath he terrifies them: ⁶ “I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

⁴ Then Jesus told him, “See to it that you don’t speak to anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest, and then offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded as proof to the authorities.”

²⁵ Then someone came and told them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the Temple and teaching the people!” ²⁶ So the commander of the Temple guards went with his men to bring them back without force, because they were afraid of being stoned to death by the people. ²⁷ When they brought them back, they made them stand before the Council, and the high priest began to question them.

¹ An Angel Frees Peter from PrisonAbout that time, Herod arrested some people who belonged to the church and mistreated them. ² He even had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword. ³ When he saw how this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter, too. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he arrested Peter, Herod put him in prison and turned him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, planning to bring him out to the people after Passover season.

³³ When these men came to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. ³⁴ After reading the letter, the governor asked which province Paul was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia,

¹ Paul Presents His Case to FelixFive days later, the high priest Ananias arrived with certain elders and Tertullus, an attorney, and they summarized their case against Paul before the governor. ² When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus opened the prosecution by saying:
“Your Excellency Felix, since we are enjoying lasting peace because of you, and since reforms for this nation are being brought about through your foresight, ³ we always and everywhere acknowledge it with profound gratitude. ⁴ But so as not to detain you any further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness. ⁵ For we have found this man a perfect pest and an agitator among all Jews throughout the world. He is a ringleader in the sect of the Nazarenes ⁶ and even tried to profane the Temple, but we arrested him. ^{7 8} By examining him for yourself, you will be able to find out from him everything of which we accuse him.”
⁹ The Jewish leaders supported his accusations by asserting that these things were true. ¹⁰ When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he replied: “Since I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I am pleased to present my defense. ¹¹ You can verify for yourself that I went up to worship in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago. ¹² They never found me debating with anyone in the Temple or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or throughout the city, ¹³ and they cannot prove to you the charges they are now bringing against me. ¹⁴ However, I admit to you that in accordance with the Way, which they call a heresy, I worship the God of our ancestors and believe in everything written in the Law and the Prophets. ¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish—that there is to be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁶ Therefore, I always do my best to have a clear conscience before God and people. ¹⁷ After many years, I have come back to my people to bring gifts for the poor and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ They found me in the Temple doing these things just as I had completed the purification ceremony. No crowd or noisy mob was present. ¹⁹ But some Jews from Asia were there, and they should be here before you to accuse me if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Otherwise, these men themselves should tell what wrong they found when I stood before the Council— ²¹ unless it is for the one thing I shouted as I stood among them: ‘It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”
²² Felix was rather well informed about the Way, and so he adjourned the trial with the comment, “When Tribune Lysias arrives, I’ll decide your case.” ²³ He ordered the centurion to guard Paul but to let him have some freedom and not to keep any of his friends from caring for his needs.
²⁴ Some days later, Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Jesus the Messiah. ²⁵ As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became afraid and said, “For the present you may go. When I get a chance, I will send for you again.” ²⁶ At the same time he was hoping to receive a bribe from Paul, and so he would send for him frequently to talk with him.

⁸ Therefore, never be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner. Instead, by God’s power, join me in suffering for the sake of the gospel.

¹⁶ At my first trial no one came to my defense. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be held against them! ¹⁷ However, the Lord stood by me and gave me strength so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles could hear it. I was rescued out of a lion’s mouth.

⁹ The Vision of the Fifth Seal OpenedWhen the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will wage war against them, conquer them, and kill them.

¹² Now, go! I myself will help you with your speech, and I’ll teach you what you are to say.”

¹⁵ You’re to speak to him and tell him what to say. I’ll help both you and him with your speech, and I’ll teach both of you what you are to do.

⁷ Then the LORD told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a young man,’ for you will go everywhere I send you, and you will speak everything I command you.

⁹ The LORD stretched out his hand, touched my mouth, and then told me, “Look, I’ve put my words in your mouth.

¹⁶ Daniel’s Friends Answer King NebuchadnezzarShadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “It’s not necessary for us to respond in this matter. ¹⁷ Your majesty, if it be his will, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the blazing fire furnace, and he will deliver us from you. ¹⁸ But if not, rest assured, your majesty, that we won’t serve your gods, and we won’t worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

²⁵ Stop Worrying
“That’s why I’m telling you to stop worrying about your life—what you will eat or what you will drink—or about your body—what you will wear. Life is more than food, isn’t it, and the body more than clothing?

³¹ “So don’t ever worry by saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’

³⁴ So never worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

¹¹ When they take you away and hand you over for trial, don’t worry ahead of time about what you will say. Instead, say whatever is given to you at that time, because it won’t be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated continuously by everyone because of my name. But the person who endures to the end will be saved.”

¹² Future Persecutions
“But before all these things take place, people will arrest you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. ¹³ It will give you an opportunity to testify. ¹⁴ So purpose in your hearts not to prepare your defense ahead of time, ¹⁵ because I will give you the ability to speak, along with wisdom, that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated continuously by everyone because of my name.

⁸ Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, told them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being questioned today for a good deed done for someone who was sick or to learn how this man was healed, ¹⁰ you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹ He is ‘the stone that was rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.’
¹² There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”
¹³ Now when the Jewish leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could not say anything against them.

²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus to life after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend 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 keep on obeying him.”
³³ When the Council heard this, they became furious and wanted to kill them.

¹⁰ But they could neither refute the wisdom nor withstand the Spirit by which he kept speaking.

² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, that I can defend myself today against all the accusations of the Jewish leaders, ³ since you are especially familiar with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen patiently to me. ⁴ All the Jews know how I lived from the earliest days of my youth with my own people and in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known for a long time, if they would but testify to it, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the standards of our strictest religious party.
⁶ “And now I stand here on trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our ancestors. ⁷ Our twelve tribes, worshiping day and night with intense devotion, hope to attain it. It is because of this hope, O King, that I am accused by the Jews. ⁸ Why is it thought incredible by all of you that God should raise the dead? ⁹ Indeed, I myself thought it my duty to take extreme measures against the name of Jesus from Nazareth. ¹⁰ That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the high priests and locked many of the saints in prison. And when I cast my vote against them, they were put to death. ¹¹ I would even punish them frequently in every synagogue and try to make them blaspheme. Raging furiously against them, I would hunt them down even in distant cities.

⁶ Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.

¹⁷ However, the Lord stood by me and gave me strength so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles could hear it. I was rescued out of a lion’s mouth.

⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him.

² The Spirit of the LORD speaks within me; his word is on my tongue!

³² because it is the unbelievers who are eager for all those things. Surely your heavenly Father knows that you need all of them!

³⁶ David himself said by the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord told my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

¹³ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!”

¹² because at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you are to say.”

³⁰ because it is the unbelievers who are concerned about all these things. Surely your Father knows that you need them! ³¹ Instead, be concerned about his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you as well. ³² Stop being afraid, little flock, because your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit gave them that ability.

⁸ Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, told them, “Rulers and elders of the people!

⁵⁵ But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ He said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

⁹ But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye

²⁵ They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: “The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah!

³ since you want proof that the Messiah is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is making his power felt among you.

¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

²¹ because no prophecy ever originated through a human decision. Instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

¹¹ So David ordered Abishai and all of his staff: “Look! My own son wants to kill me! How much more now is this descendant of Benjamin? Leave him alone and let him go on cursing, because the LORD has ordered him to do this.

¹ “Give me 12,000 men! I’ll leave tonight and pursue David,” Ahithophel advised Absalom. ² “I’ll catch him while he is still tired and weak. I’ll frighten him so all his people with him desert him. But I’ll only kill the king. ³ Then I’ll bring everybody else back to you. When the man you’re looking for is dead, all the rest of the people will return quietly.”
⁴ Even though this plan seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all of the elders of Israel,

¹⁹ My closest friends detest me; even the ones I love have turned against me.

⁵ Don’t trust your friends, don’t confide in a companion, watch what you say to your wife. ⁶ The son disrespects his father, the daughter rebels against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies are the people of his own house.

³ It will also come about that if any man would dare to prophesy, then his father and his mother who bore him will respond to him, ‘You will not live, because you are speaking lies in the name of the LORD.’ Then his father and mother who bore him will stab him for prophesying.

³⁴ Not Peace, but Division
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword! ³⁵ I came to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ A person’s enemies will include members of his own family.’

¹⁰ Then many people will fall away, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

⁵¹ Do you think that I came to bring peace on earth? Not at all, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵² From now on, five people in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵ The LORD Vindicates Zion“Hear this message from the LORD, you who tremble at his words: “Your own brothers who hate you and exclude you because of my name have said: ‘Let the LORD be glorified; he will see your joy,’ yet it is they who will be put to shame. ⁶ “Listen to that uproar in the city! Listen to that noise from the Temple! It is the sound of the LORD paying back retribution to his enemies!

¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres and attains to the 1,335 days. ¹³ Now as for you, keep on going until the end—you’ll rest and then rise to receive your reward at the end of the age.’”

¹¹ “How blessed are you whenever people insult you, persecute you, and say all sorts of evil things against you falsely because of me!

³⁹ The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.”

⁹ Future Persecution, Apostasy, and Evangelism
“Then they’ll hand you over to suffer and will kill you, and you’ll be hated by all the nations because of my name.

¹³ But the person who endures to the end will be saved.

¹³ You will be hated continuously by everyone because of my name. But the person who endures to the end will be saved.”

²² “How blessed are you whenever people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because of the Son of Man!

¹⁵ But the ones on the good soil are the people who hear the word but also hold on to it with good and honest hearts, producing a crop through endurance.”

⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its actions are evil.

¹⁸ The World’s Hatred“If the world hates you, you should realize that it hated me before you. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But because you do not belong to the world and I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ They will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.

¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world.

¹⁶ since I’m going to show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

⁷ eternal life to those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing good;

¹¹ While we are alive, we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our mortal bodies.

⁹ Let’s not get tired of doing what is good, for at the right time we will reap a harvest—if we do not give up.

¹⁴ because we are the Messiah’s partners only if we hold on to our original confidence to the end.

¹¹ But we want each of you to continue to be diligent to the very end, in order to give full assurance to your hope.

¹² Trial and TemptationHow blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor’s crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him.

¹³ So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, must continue to build your most holy faith for your own benefit. Furthermore, continue to pray in the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Remain in God’s love as you look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, which brings eternal life.

³ You have endured and suffered because of my name, yet you have not grown weary.

⁷ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life that is in God’s paradise.’”

¹⁰ Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. For ten days you will undergo suffering. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the victor’s crown of life.

¹⁷ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone. On the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the person who receives it.’”

²⁶ To the person who conquers and continues to do what I’ve commanded to the end, I will give authority over the nations.

²¹ To the one who conquers I will give a place to sit with me on my throne, just as I have conquered and have sat down with my Father on his throne.

¹³ The Escape to EgyptAfter they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,” he said. “Stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and kill him.”

¹² Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he went back to Galilee.

¹⁴ The Pharisees, however, went out and plotted against Jesus to kill him.
¹⁵ Jesus, God’s Chosen ServantWhen Jesus became aware of this, he left that place. Many crowds followed him, and he healed all of them,

²⁸ I tell all of you with certainty, some people standing here will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

²⁷ because just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all ‘the tribes of the land will mourn’ when they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.

⁴⁸ “But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master has been delayed,’

¹³ So keep on watching, because you don’t know the day or the hour.”

⁶⁴ Jesus told him, “You have said so. Nevertheless I tell you, from now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’”

²⁶ Then people will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.

²⁹ They got up, forced Jesus out of the city, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, intending to throw him off. ³⁰ But he walked right through the middle of them and went away.
³¹ Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit
Then Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and began teaching the people on Sabbath days.

⁸ I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

²⁷ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.

¹ The Unbelief of Jesus’ BrothersAfter this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, because he didn’t want to travel in Judea, since the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill him.

³⁹ Again they tried to seize him, but he slipped away from them. ⁴⁰ Then he went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and he remained there. ⁴¹ Many people came to him and kept saying, “John never performed a sign, but everything that John said about this man is true!” ⁴² And many believed in Jesus there.

⁵³ So from that day on they resolved to put him to death. ⁵⁴ As a result, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews. Instead, he went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness. There he remained with his disciples.

²⁴ but their plot became known to him. They were even watching the gates day and night to murder him, ²⁵ but his disciples took him one night and let him down through the city wall by lowering him in a basket.

⁵⁰ But the Jewish leaders stirred up devout women of high social standing and the officials in the city, started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their territory. ⁵¹ So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

⁶ Paul and Barnabas found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding territory. ⁷ There they kept talking about the good news.

¹⁹ Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in SyriaBut some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds by persuasion. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking he was dead. ²⁰ But the disciples formed a circle around him, and he got up and went back to town. The next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

¹⁰ Paul and Silas in BereaThat night the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

¹ Paul’s Trip to Macedonia and GreeceWhen the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye to them and left to go to Macedonia.

¹¹ Uriah replied, “The ark, along with Israel and Judah, are encamped in tents, while my commanding officer Joab and my master’s staff members are camping out in the open fields. Should I go home, eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? Not on your life! I won’t do something like this, will I?”

⁴⁰ A disciple is not better than his teacher. But everyone who is fully-trained will be like his teacher.

¹⁶ Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, a servant isn’t greater than his master, and a messenger isn’t greater than the one who sent him.

²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

² fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
³ The Father Disciplines UsThink about the one who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you may not become tired and give up. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

³⁴ But the Pharisees kept saying, “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

²² The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept repeating, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”

¹⁵ But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁰ The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?”

⁵² Then the Jewish leaders told him, “Now we really know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, but you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’

²⁰ Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why bother listening to him?”

¹ Contrasting Good and Evil The wicked flee, though no one pursues, but the righteous are bold like a lion.

²⁵ Fearing any human being is a trap, but confiding in the LORD keeps anyone safe.

¹⁰ Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you; don’t be anxious, because I am your God. I keep on strengthening you; I’m truly helping you. I’m surely upholding you with my victorious right hand.”

¹⁴ Don’t be afraid, you little worm Jacob, and you insects of Israel! I myself will help you,’ declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”

¹ The Future Redemption of Israel But now this is what the LORD says, the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: “Do not be afraid, because I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called you by name; you are mine. ² When you pass through the waters, I’ll be with you; and through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you. when you walk through fire you won’t be scorched, and the flame won’t set you ablaze.

⁷ Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people who have my instruction in their hearts. Don’t fear the insults of mortals, and don’t be dismayed at their hateful words. ⁸ For moths will eat them up just like a garment, and worms will devour them like wool; but my deliverance will last forever, and my salvation to all generations.

¹² “I—yes, I—am the one who comforts you. Who are you, that you are so afraid of humans who will die, descendants of mere men, who have been made like grass? ¹³ As a result, you have forgotten the LORD who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations, and you live in constant fear every day because of the oppressor’s fury, since he’s ready to destroy. Now where is the oppressor’s fury?

⁸ Don’t be afraid of them, because I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.

¹⁷ The LORD’s Assurance to Jeremiah“As for you, get ready! Stand up and tell them everything that I’ve commanded you. Don’t be frightened as you face them, or I’ll frighten you right in front of them.
¹⁸ “As for me, today I’m making you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

⁶ “Now as for you, Son of Man, never be afraid of them or of anything they have to say, because being with them will be like settling down to live among briers, thorn bushes, and scorpions! Don’t be afraid of anything they have to say, and don’t be awed by their appearance, since they are a rebellious group.

²⁸ Stop being afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Instead, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.

²² Nothing is hidden except for the purpose of having it revealed, and nothing is secret except for the purpose of having it come to light.

¹⁷ There is nothing hidden that won’t be revealed, and there is nothing secret that won’t become known and come to light.

² There is nothing covered up that won’t be exposed and nothing secret that won’t be made known. ³ Therefore, what you have said in darkness will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be shouted from the housetops.”
⁴ Fear God
“But I tell you, my friends, never be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can’t do anything more. ⁵ I’ll show you the one you should be afraid of. Be afraid of the one who has the authority to throw you into hell after killing you. Yes, I tell you, be afraid of him!
⁶ “Five sparrows are sold for two pennies, aren’t they? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. ⁷ Why, even all the hairs on your head have been counted! Stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows.”
⁸ Acknowledging the Messiah
“But I tell you, the Son of Man will acknowledge before God’s angels everyone who acknowledges me before people. ⁹ But whoever denies me before people will be denied before God’s angels.

¹³ Now when the Jewish leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus.

¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, “You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God,

⁵ Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. “Never be afraid of their threats, and never get upset.

²⁰ The Benefits of Choosing WisdomWisdom cries out in the street; she raises her voice in the public squares. ²¹ She calls out at the busiest part of the noisy streets, and at the entrance to the gates of the city she utters her words: ²² “You naïve ones, how long will you love naiveté? And how long will scoffers delight in scoffing or fools hate knowledge?” ²³ Return to my correction! Look, I will pour out my spirit on you, and I will make my words known to you.

¹ Wisdom Calls for an Audience Isn’t wisdom calling out; isn’t understanding raising her voice? ² On top of the highest places along the road she stands where the roads meet. ³ Beside the gates, at the city entrance— at the entrance to the portals she cries aloud: ⁴ “I’m calling to you, men! What I have to say pertains to all mankind! ⁵ Understand prudence, you naïve people; and gain an understanding heart, you foolish ones.

¹ The Parable about a Farmer
That day Jesus left the house and sat down beside the sea. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the entire crowd stood on the shore. ³ Then he began to tell them many things in parables. He said, “Listen! A farmer went out to sow. ⁴ As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they did not have any roots, they dried up. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew higher and choked them out. ⁸ But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown. ⁹ Let the person who has ears listen!”
¹⁰ The Purpose of the Parables
Then the disciples came and asked Jesus, “Why do you speak to people in parables?”
¹¹ He answered them, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom from heaven, but it hasn’t been given to them, ¹² because to anyone who has something, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who doesn’t have anything, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ That’s why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but don’t see, and they listen but don’t hear or understand.’
¹⁴ “With them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says: ‘You will listen and listen but never understand. You will look and look but never comprehend, ¹⁵ for this people’s heart has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that they might not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
¹⁶ “How blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear! ¹⁷ I tell all of you with certainty, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but did not see them, and to hear the things you hear but did not hear them.”

³⁴ Why Jesus Used Parables
Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was declared by the prophet when he said, “I will open my mouth to speak in parables. I will declare what has been hidden since the creation of the world.”

¹⁰ So he said, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to others they are given in parables, so that ‘they might look but not see, and they might listen but not understand.’”

¹ “I have told you this to keep you from falling away.

¹³ Yet when the Spirit of Truth comes, he’ll guide you into all truth. He won’t speak on his own accord, but he’ll speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come.

²⁵ Victory over the World“I have said these things to you in figurative language. The time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

²⁹ Jesus’ disciples said, “Well, now you’re speaking plainly and not using figurative language.

²⁰ “Go, stand in the Temple, and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life they can have.”

²⁸ He said, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name, didn’t we? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man’s blood on us!”

¹⁷ So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and other worshipers, as well as every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there.

¹² Therefore, since we have such a hope, we speak very boldly,

¹²⁰ My flesh trembles out of fear of you, and I am in awe of your judgments.

⁷ In spite of many daydreams, pointless actions, and empty words, it is more important to fear God.

¹² Even though a sinner does what is wrong a hundred times and still survives, nevertheless I also know that things will go well for those who fear God, who fear in his presence. ¹³ But things will not go well for the wicked person: he will not lengthen his life like a shadow, since he has no fear before God.

¹² “Don’t call conspiracy everything that this people calls conspiracy, and don’t fear what they fear, or live in terror. ¹³ The LORD of the Heavenly Armies— he’s the one you are to regard as holy. Let him be the one whom you fear, and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror!

⁷ Listen to me, you who know righteousness, you people who have my instruction in their hearts. Don’t fear the insults of mortals, and don’t be dismayed at their hateful words.

¹² “I—yes, I—am the one who comforts you. Who are you, that you are so afraid of humans who will die, descendants of mere men, who have been made like grass?

² All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But this is the one to whom I will look favorably: to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my message.

²² ‘You don’t fear me, do you?’ declares the LORD. ‘You don’t tremble before me, do you? I’m the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they cannot cross it.’

¹⁰ You, your majesty, issued this decree: ‘Every man who hears the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various other instruments is to fall down and worship the golden statue. ¹¹ Whoever does not fall down and worship is to be thrown into a blazing fire furnace.’
¹² “Certain influential Jewish men whom you appointed to manage the city of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—have neither paid attention to you, your majesty, nor served your gods. And they won’t worship the golden statue that you set up.”
¹³ The Threat of the Fire FurnaceNebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and furiously ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. ¹⁴ Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t worship my gods and that you don’t worship the golden statue that has been set up? ¹⁵ Now, if you are ready at this very moment to obey ‘the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp,’ and worship the image that I have made… If you do not so worship, you will immediately have cast yourselves into the middle of the blazing fire, and what god is there who can deliver you from my power?”

²⁶ Fear God
“So never be afraid of them, because there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be made known.

⁴⁶ These people will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

⁴³ So if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better for you to enter life injured than to have two hands and go to hell, to the fire that cannot be put out. ⁴⁴ In that place, worms never die, and the fire is never put out.
⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁶ In that place, worms never die, and the fire is never put out.
⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It’s better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁸ In that place, worms never die, and the fire is never put out.

⁴ Fear God
“But I tell you, my friends, never be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can’t do anything more. ⁵ I’ll show you the one you should be afraid of. Be afraid of the one who has the authority to throw you into hell after killing you. Yes, I tell you, be afraid of him!

²² “One day, the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In the afterlife, where he was in constant torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire.’
²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember that during your lifetime you received blessings, while Lazarus received hardships. But now he is being comforted here, while you suffer. ²⁶ Besides all this, a wide chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot do so, nor can they cross from your side to us.’

²⁹ and will come out—those who have done what is good to the resurrection that leads to life, and those who have practiced what is evil to the resurrection that ends in condemnation.

²³ except that in town after town the Holy Spirit assures me that imprisonment and suffering are waiting for me. ²⁴ But I don’t place any value on my life, if only I can finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

¹³ At this Paul replied, “What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I’m ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!”

³⁵ Who will separate us from the Messiah’s love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death do this? ³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are thought of as sheep headed for slaughter.”
³⁷ In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.

⁸ in blazing fire. He will take revenge on those who do not know God and on those who refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ Such people will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power ¹⁰ when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be regarded with wonder on that day by all who have believed—including you, because you believed our testimony.

⁶ I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith. ⁸ The victor’s crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on the day that he comes, and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for his appearing.

³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

³⁵ Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and worship God in reverence and fear in a way that pleases him. ²⁹ For “our God is an all-consuming fire.”

¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge—the one who can save and destroy. So who are you to judge your neighbor?

¹⁰ and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. They will be tortured day and night forever and ever.
¹¹ The Vision of the White Throne JudgmentThen I saw a large, white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. ¹² I saw the dead, both unimportant and important, standing in front of the throne, and books were open. Another book was opened—the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their actions, as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to their actions. ¹⁴ Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. (This is the second death—the lake of fire.) ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

²⁷ All of them look to you to provide them their food at the proper time. ²⁸ They receive what you give them; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. ²⁹ When you withdraw your favor, they are disappointed; Take away their breath, and they die and return to dust. ³⁰ When you send your spirit, they are created, and you replenish the surface of the earth.

⁶ “Five sparrows are sold for two pennies, aren’t they? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. ⁷ Why, even all the hairs on your head have been counted! Stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows.”

⁴⁵ Then the army told Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who brought about this great deliverance in Israel? As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head will fall to the ground, because today he did this with God’s help.”

¹¹ Then she said, “Your majesty, please remember the LORD your God, so that blood avengers don’t do any more damage! Otherwise, they’ll destroy my son!”
So he promised, “As the LORD lives, not even a single hair from your son’s head will fall to the ground!”

⁵² “If he’s done nothing wrong, not a hair of his head will be harmed,” Solomon replied. “But if we find evil in him, he’s a dead man.”

⁷ Why, even all the hairs on your head have been counted! Stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows.”

¹⁸ And yet not a hair on your head will be lost.

³⁴ So I urge you to eat something, for it will help you survive, since none of you will lose so much as a hair from his head.”

⁵ You made him a little less than divine, but you crowned him with glory and honor.

²⁶ Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t plant or harvest or gather food into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are more valuable than they are, aren’t you?

¹¹ But he asked them, “Is there a man among you who, if he had one sheep and it fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and pull it out? ¹² How much more is a human being worth than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on Sabbath days.”

²⁴ Consider the crows. They don’t plant or harvest, they don’t even have a storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!

⁹ For in the Law of Moses it is written, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” God is not only concerned about oxen, is he? ¹⁰ Isn’t he really speaking for our benefit? Yes, this was written for our benefit, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.

³⁰ “Therefore, the LORD God of Israel has declared, ‘I did, in fact, say that your family and your ancestor’s family would walk before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from me! The one who honors me I’ll honor, and the one who despises me is to be treated with contempt.

⁴⁶ Then I will speak of your decrees before kings and not be ashamed.

³⁴ “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,

²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, since the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be thrown out of the synagogue.

⁹ If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved.

¹² Fight the good fight for the faith. Keep holding on to eternal life, to which you were called and about which you gave a good testimony in front of many witnesses.
¹³ Since you are in the presence of God, who gives life to everything, and in the presence of the Messiah Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, I solemnly charge you

¹⁵ God abides in the one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and he abides in God.

¹³ ‘I know where you live. Satan’s throne is there. Yet you hold on to my name and have not denied your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed in your presence, where Satan lives.

⁵ The person who conquers in this way will wear white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and his angels.

⁷⁰ But he denied it in front of them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he exclaimed.
⁷¹ As he went out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, “This man was with Jesus from Nazareth.”
⁷² Again he denied it and swore with an oath, “I don’t know the man!”
⁷³ After a little while, the people who were standing there came up and told Peter, “Obviously you’re also one of them, because your accent gives you away.”
⁷⁴ Then he began to curse violently. “I don’t know the man!” he swore solemnly. Just then a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ Peter remembered the words of Jesus when he said, “Before a rooster crows, you’ll deny me three times.” Then he went outside and cried bitterly.

³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes with the holy angels in his Father’s glory.”

³⁰ Jesus told him, “I tell you with certainty, today, this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you’ll deny me three times.”

⁷² Just then a rooster crowed a second time.
Peter remembered that Jesus told him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Then he broke down and cried.

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 the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

⁹ But whoever denies me before people will be denied before God’s angels.

¹² Enduring, we with him will reign. Who him denies, he will disclaim.

¹ Warning against False TeachersNow there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.

²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father.

¹⁰ Jeremiah’s ComplaintHow terrible for me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of strife and contention for the whole land! I’ve neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

⁴⁹ Not Peace, but Division
“I’ve come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already ablaze! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to be baptized with, and what stress I am under until it’s completed!

⁴⁰ Division among the PeopleWhen they heard these words, some in the crowd were saying, “This really is the Prophet,” ⁴¹ while others were saying, “This is the Messiah!”
But some were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? ⁴² Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah is from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” ⁴³ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. ⁴⁴ Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.
⁴⁵ The Unbelief of the AuthoritiesThen the officers returned to the high priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”
⁴⁶ The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like that!”
⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees replied to them, “You haven’t been deceived, too, have you? ⁴⁸ None of the authorities or Pharisees has believed in him, have they? ⁴⁹ But this mob that does not know the Law—they’re under a curse!”
⁵⁰ One of their own, Nicodemus (the man who had previously met with Jesus), asked them, ⁵¹ “Surely our Law does not condemn a person without first hearing from him and finding out what he is doing, does it?”
⁵² They answered him, “You aren’t from Galilee, too, are you? Search and see that no prophet comes from Galilee.”

⁴⁵ But when the Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to object to the statements made by Paul and even to abuse him.
⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, “We had to speak God’s word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles. ⁴⁷ For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’”
⁴⁸ When the gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. Meanwhile, all who had been destined to eternal life believed, ⁴⁹ and the word of the Lord began to spread throughout the whole region. ⁵⁰ But the Jewish leaders stirred up devout women of high social standing and the officials in the city, started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their territory.

² But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

⁴ But the people of the city were divided. Some were with the Jews, while others were with the apostles.

²¹ “Brother will hand brother over for execution, and a father his child. Children will rebel against parents and have them put to death.

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

¹⁵ “I’ll place hostility between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He’ll strike you on the head, and you’ll strike him on the heel.”

⁸ Instead, Cain told his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the wilderness.” When they were outside in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
⁹ Later, the LORD asked Cain, “Where’s your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
¹⁰ “What did you do?” God asked. “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.

¹⁷ “They’ve already left,” the man answered. “I heard them saying that they were headed to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.
¹⁸ Joseph’s Brothers Plot to Kill HimNow as soon as they saw him approaching from a distance, before he arrived they plotted together to kill him. ¹⁹ “Look!” they said. “Here comes the Dream Master! ²⁰ Come on! Let’s kill him and toss him into one of the cisterns. Then we’ll report that some wild animal devoured him and wait to see what becomes of his dreams!”
²¹ When Reuben heard about it, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. “Let’s not do any killing,” ²² Reuben told them. “And no blood shedding, either. Instead, let’s toss him into this cistern that’s way out here in the wilderness. But don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben intended to free Joseph and return him to his father.)
²³ Joseph is Sold into SlaveryAs it was, when Joseph arrived where his brothers were, they stripped off the tunic that Jacob had given him—that is, the richly-embroidered tunic that he was wearing. ²⁴ They grabbed him and tossed him into the cistern, but the cistern was empty. (There was no water in it.) ²⁵ After this, while they were seated, eating their food, they looked around and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with camels carrying spices, balm, and myrrh for sale down in Egypt.
²⁶ Then Judah suggested to his brothers, “Where’s the profit in just killing our brother and shedding his blood? ²⁷ Come on! Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites! That way, we won’t have laid our hands on him. After all, he’s our brother, our own flesh.”
So Judah’s brothers listened to him. ²⁸ As the Midianite merchants were passing through, they extracted Joseph from the cistern and sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who then took Joseph down to Egypt.

²⁸ Eliab his oldest brother heard him talking to the men. Eliab was angry with David and said, “Why did you come down here? And who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your insolence and wicked intentions. You came down just to see the battle!”

¹³ Job’s Family and Friends Abandoned Him“My brothers are alienated from me; my acquaintances are estranged; ¹⁴ my relatives have failed me; and my friends have abandoned me. ¹⁵ Those who live in my house— and my maidservants, too!— treat me like a stranger; they think I’m a foreigner. ¹⁶ “I call to my servant, but he doesn’t respond, even though I beg to him earnestly. ¹⁷ My wife says my breath stinks; even my children say I smell bad! ¹⁸ Even little children hate me; when I get up, they mock me. ¹⁹ My closest friends detest me; even the ones I love have turned against me.

⁹ As for my best friend, the one in whom I trusted, the one who ate my bread, even he has insulted me!

¹³ but it is you— a man whom I treated as my equal— my personal confidant, my close friend!

⁶ Indeed, even your brothers and your father’s family conspire against you. Even they cry out after you loudly. Don’t believe them, even though they speak friendly words to you.

¹⁰ Indeed, I hear many people whispering, “Terror on every side. Denounce him, let’s denounce him!” All my close friends watch my steps and say, “Perhaps he will be deceived, and we can prevail against him and take vengeance on him.”

⁶ The son disrespects his father, the daughter rebels against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies are the people of his own house.

⁸ Peter told him, “You must never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you cannot be involved with me.”

⁹ the one who told his mother and father, ‘I don’t know them,’ and who would neither acknowledge his brothers nor know his own children. For they kept your word and guarded your covenant.

⁸ “Then he told his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

³⁷ Jesus told him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can’t be my disciple.

³⁵ but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

³⁶ So be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man.”

²³ so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

¹⁵ Jesus Speaks with PeterWhen they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Peter told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.”
¹⁶ Then he asked him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus told him, “Take care of my sheep.” ¹⁷ He asked him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was deeply hurt that he had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” So he told him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you!”
Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep.

¹⁴ The love of the Messiah controls us, for we are convinced of this: that one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died. ¹⁵ He died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them.

⁷ But whatever things were assets to me, these I now consider a loss for the sake of the Messiah. ⁸ What is more, I continue to consider all these things to be a loss for the sake of what is far more valuable, knowing the Messiah Jesus, my Lord. It is because of him that I have experienced the loss of all those things. Indeed, I consider them rubbish in order to gain the Messiah ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but one that comes through the faithfulness of the Messiah, the righteousness that comes from God and that depends on faith.

⁵ This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment and is intended to make you worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you are suffering. ⁶ Certainly it is right for God to pay back those who afflict you with affliction, ⁷ and to give us who are afflicted relief when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels

⁴ But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me in white clothes because they are worthy.

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continuously.

³² Jesus is Crucified
As they were leaving, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced to carry Jesus’ cross.

³⁴ Then Jesus called the crowd to himself along with his disciples and told them, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continuously,

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. Then he told him, “You’re missing one thing. Go and sell everything you own, give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.”

²³ Then he told all of them, “If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross every day, and follow me continuously, ²⁴ because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

²⁷ Whoever doesn’t carry his cross and follow me can’t be my disciple.

¹⁷ Jesus is Crucified
Carrying the cross all by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

²⁵ Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it, ²⁶ because what profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

³⁵ because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?

²⁴ because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

³³ Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.

²⁵ The one who loves his life will destroy it, and the one who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.

²⁰ I rejoice because I eagerly expect and hope that I will have nothing to be ashamed of, because through my boldness the Messiah will be exalted through me, now as always, whether I live or die.
²¹ For to me, to go on living is the Messiah, and to die is gain.

⁴⁰ The king will answer them, ‘I tell all of you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

⁴⁵ Then he will say to them, ‘I tell all of you with certainty, since you didn’t do it for one of the least important of these, you didn’t do it for me.’

¹⁶ The person who listens to you listens to me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. The person who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

⁴⁴ Judgment by Jesus’ WordThen Jesus said loudly, “The one who believes in me does not believe in me only, but also in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who sees me sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I’ve come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me won’t remain in the darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I don’t condemn him, because I didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it. ⁴⁸ The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my words has something to judge him: The word that I’ve spoken will judge him on the last day, ⁴⁹ because I haven’t spoken on my own authority. Instead, the Father who sent me has himself commanded me what to say and how to speak.

¹⁴ Even though my condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. On the contrary, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, or as if I were the Messiah Jesus.

¹⁰ And so, when Jesus’ name is called, the knees of everyone should fall, wherever they’re residing. ¹¹ Then every tongue in one accord, will say that Jesus the Messiah is Lord, while God the Father praising.

²² Who is a liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? The person who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father.

⁹ Everyone who does not remain true to the teaching of the Messiah, but goes beyond it, does not have God. The person who remains true to the teaching of the Messiah has both the Father and the Son.

⁷ Now then, return the man’s wife. As a matter of fact, he’s a prophet and can intercede for you so you’ll live. But if you don’t return her, be aware that you and all who are yours will certainly die.”

⁹ “Get up, move to Zarephath in Sidon, and stay there. Look! I’ve commanded a widow to sustain you there.”
¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance to the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he asked her, “Please, may I have some water in a cup so I can have a drink.” ¹¹ While she was on her way to get the water, he called out to her, “Would you please also bring me a piece of bread while you’re at it?”
¹² “As the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have so much as a muffin, just a handful of flour in a bowl and some oil left in a bottle. Now I’m going to find some sticks so I can cook a last meal for my son and for me. Then we’re going to eat it and die.”
¹³ But Elijah told her, “You can stop being afraid. Go and do what you said, but first make me a muffin and bring it to me. Then make a meal for yourself and for your son, ¹⁴ because this is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘That jar of flour will not run out, nor will that bottle of oil become empty until the very day that the LORD sends rain on the surface of the ground.’”
¹⁵ So she went out and did precisely what Elijah told her to do. As a result, Elijah, the widow, and her son were fed for days.

³ Ahab called for Obadiah, his household supervisor. This man, who feared the LORD very much, ⁴ had taken 100 prophets and had hidden them by fifties in a cave, providing them with food and water when Jezebel was trying to destroy the LORD’s prophets.

⁸ The Hospitality of a Woman from ShunemSome time later, Elisha went to Shunem, where he met a prominent and wealthy woman who persuaded him to have a meal with her. As a result, whenever he was in the area, he stopped by to eat with her. ⁹ So she had a talk with her husband. “Look here! I’ve learned that this is a holy and godly man who comes by here on a regular basis. ¹⁰ Now then, let’s build a small upper room and put a bed in it for him there, along with a table, a chair, and a lamp stand. That way, when he comes to visit, he can rest there.”

¹⁶ and he told her, “About this time next year you will be embracing a son.”
“No, sir! Please, as a godly man, don’t mislead your servant!” ¹⁷ But the woman did conceive and did bear a son at that very same time the next year, just as Elisha had told her.

³² When Elisha entered the house, there was the youngster, dead and laid out on Elisha’s bed! ³³ So he entered, shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the LORD. ³⁴ Then he approached the child and lay down with his mouth near the child’s, with his eyes near those of the child, and taking the child’s hands in his. As Elisha stretched himself on the child, the child’s flesh began to grow warm. ³⁵ Then he went downstairs, walked around back and forth inside the house once, went back up to his upper chamber, and stretched himself over the child again. The young man sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes.
³⁶ He called out to Gehazi, “Go get the Shunammite woman!” So he called her. When she came in to see Elisha, he told her, “Take back your son!” ³⁷ Then she approached him, fell at his feet, bowing low to the ground, took back her son, and went out.

¹⁰ Encouragement to the Righteous“Tell the righteous that things will go well, because they will enjoy the fruit of their actions.”

¹ Teaching about Giving to the Poor “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people in order to be noticed by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

⁴ so that your giving may be done in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

⁶ But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees from the hidden place will reward you.

¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by others but by your Father who is in the hidden place. And your Father who watches from the hidden place will reward you.”

²⁷ The Son of Man is going to come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to what he has done.

³⁴ “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who have been blessed by my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, ³⁵ because I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. ³⁶ I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will say to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or see you naked and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’
⁴⁰ The king will answer them, ‘I tell all of you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

¹³ Instead, when you give a banquet, make it your habit to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ Then you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. And you will be repaid when the righteous are resurrected.”

¹ Personal GreetingsNow I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess in the church at Cenchrea. ² Welcome her in the Lord as is appropriate for saints, and provide her with anything she may need from you, for she has assisted many people, including me.
³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me for the Messiah Jesus, ⁴ and who risked their necks for my life. I am thankful to them, and so are all the churches among the gentiles.

²³ Gaius, who is host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.

¹⁷ For if I preach voluntarily, I get a reward, but if I am unwilling to do it, I am still entrusted with that obligation.

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, for he often took care of me and was not ashamed that I was a prisoner. ¹⁷ Instead, when he arrived in Rome he searched diligently for me and found me. ¹⁸ May the Lord grant that he finds mercy on the day he comes again. You know very well how much he assisted me in Ephesus.

¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have ministered to the saints and continue to minister to them.

⁸ See to it that you don’t destroy what we have worked for, but that you receive your full reward.

⁵ Dear friend, you are faithful in whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. ⁶ They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

¹⁴ Keep in mind that wisdom is like that for your soul; if you find it, there will be a future for you, and what you hope for won’t be cut short.

⁷ “Arise, sword, against my shepherd, against the mighty one who is related to me,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. “Strike the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the insignificant ones.

⁵ Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant
When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a centurion came up to him and begged him repeatedly, ⁶ “Sir, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

³ Then he said, “I tell all of you with certainty, unless you change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom from heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom from heaven, ⁵ and whoever receives a little child like this in my name receives me.”
⁶ Causing Others to Sin
“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned at the bottom of the sea.

¹⁴ In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

⁴¹ I tell all of you with certainty, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to the Messiah will never lose his reward.”
⁴² Causing Others to Sin
“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

⁴² Then a destitute widow came and dropped in two small copper coins, worth about a cent. ⁴³ He called his disciples and told them, “I tell all of you with certainty, this destitute widow has dropped in more than everyone who is contributing to the offering box,

⁷ because you’ll always have the destitute with you and can help them whenever you want, but you won’t always have me. ⁸ She has done what she could. She poured perfume on my body in preparation for my burial.

³⁵ Rather, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind even to ungrateful and evil people.

² It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.

¹⁰ For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you, who know better, eating in an idol’s temple, he will be encouraged to eat what has been offered to idols, won’t he? ¹¹ In that case, the weak brother for whom the Messiah died is ruined by your knowledge. ¹² When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak consciences, you are sinning against the Messiah. ¹³ Therefore, if food that I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from stumbling.

¹² For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you do not have.

⁶ Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you must give what you have decided in your heart, not with regret or under compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ Besides, God is able to make every blessing of yours overflow for you, so that in every situation you will always have all you need for any good work. ⁹ As it is written, “He scatters everywhere and gives to the poor; his righteousness lasts forever.” ¹⁰ Now he who supplies seed to the farmer and bread to eat will also supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest that results from your righteousness. ¹¹ In every way you will grow richer and become even more generous, and this will cause others to give thanks to God because of us, ¹² since this ministry you render is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, it is also overflowing with more and more prayers of thanksgiving to God. ¹³ Because your service in giving proves your love, you will be glorifying God as you obey what your confession of the Messiah’s gospel demands, since you are generous in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴ And so in their prayers for you they will long for you because of God’s exceptional grace that was shown to you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

¹⁵ You Philippians also know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church participated with me in the matter of giving and receiving except for you. ¹⁶ Even while I was in Thessalonica, you provided for my needs not once, but twice. ¹⁷ It is not that I am looking for a gift. No, I want to see that you receive the fruit that increases to your benefit. ¹⁸ I have been paid in full and have more than enough. I am fully supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent—a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus.