John Cross References - LEB

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² This one was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that* has come into being. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.* ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome* it. ⁶ A man came, sent from God, _⌊whose name was_⌋* John. ⁷ This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him. ⁸ That one was not the light, but came* in order that he could testify about the light. ⁹ The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize* him. ¹¹ He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God, ¹³ who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John testified about him and cried out, saying, "This one was he about whom I said, 'The one who comes after me is ahead of me, because he existed before me.'" ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, and grace after grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him* known. ¹⁹ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent* priests and Levites from Jerusalem so that they could ask him, "Who are you?" ²⁰ And he confessed—and he did not deny, and confessed—"I am not the Christ!" ²¹ And they asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not!" "Are you the Prophet?"* And he answered, "No!" ²² Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" ²³ He said,
"I am 'the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord," '*
just as Isaiah the prophet said." ²⁴ (And they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ And they asked him and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" ²⁶ John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water. In your midst stands one whom you do not know— ²⁷ the one who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy _⌊to untie_⌋* the strap of his sandal!" ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹ On the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This one is the one about whom I said, 'After me is coming a man who is ahead of me, because he existed before me.' ³¹ And I did not know him, but in order that he could be revealed to Israel, because of this I came baptizing with water." ³² And John testified, saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and remaining upon him. ³³ And I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water, that one said to me, 'The one upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him—this one is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴ And I have seen and testify that this one is the Chosen One* of God. ³⁵ On the next day again John was standing there,* and two of his disciples, ³⁶ and looking at Jesus as he* was walking by, he said, "Look! The Lamb of God!" ³⁷ And the two disciples heard him speaking, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ And Jesus, turning around and seeing them following him,* said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means when* translated "Teacher"), "where are you staying?" ³⁹ He said to them, "Come and you will see!" So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day (it was about the tenth hour). ⁴⁰ Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. ⁴¹ This one first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is translated "Christ"). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Looking at him, Jesus said, "You are Simon the son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which is interpreted "Peter"). ⁴³ On the next day he wanted to depart for Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow me!" ⁴⁴ (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.) ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets wrote about—Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth!" ⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see!" ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, "Look! _⌊A true Israelite_⌋* in whom is no deceit!" ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, "From where do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you* were under the fig tree, I saw you." ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!" ⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these!" ⁵¹ And he said to him, "Truly, truly I say to all of you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth—

⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

²² "Yahweh possessed* me, the first of his ways, before his acts _⌊of old_⌋.* ²³ From eternity, I was set up from the first, from the beginning* of the earth. ²⁴ When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs of _⌊abounding_⌋* water. ²⁵ Before mountains had been shaped, before hills, I was brought forth. ²⁶ When he had not yet made earth and fields, or the first dust of the world, ²⁷ _⌊when he established_⌋* the heavens, there I was, _⌊when he drew_⌋* a circle upon the face of the deep, ²⁸ _⌊when he made_⌋* skies from above, when he founded fountains of the deep, ²⁹ _⌊when he assigned_⌋* his limits to the sea, that waters shall not transgress his _⌊command_⌋,* _⌊when he marked_⌋* the foundations of the earth, ³⁰ I was _⌊beside_⌋* him, a master workman, and I was delighting day by day, rejoicing before him _⌊always_⌋,* ³¹ rejoicing in the world of his earth, and my delight was with the children of humankind.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you* a sign. Look! the virgin* is with child and she is about to give birth to a son, and she shall call his name 'God with us.'

⁶ For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁹ _⌊Get yourself_⌋* up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news! Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news! Lift it up; you must not fear! Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!" ¹⁰ Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with _⌊strength_⌋,* and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his recompense _⌊in his presence_⌋.* ¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arm, and he will carry them in his bosom; he will lead those who nurse.

²³ "Behold, the virgin _⌊will become pregnant_⌋* and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel,"*
which is translated, "God with us."*

² This one was in the beginning with God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him* known.

³⁰ The Father and I are one." ³¹ Then* the Jews picked up stones again so that they could stone him. ³² Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?" ³³ The Jews answered him, "We are not going to stone you concerning a good deed, but concerning blasphemy, and because you, although you* are a man, make yourself to be God!"

²⁸ I have gone out from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father."

⁵ And now, Father, you glorify me _⌊at your side_⌋* with the glory that I had _⌊at your side_⌋* before the world existed.

²⁸ Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

⁵ to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed _⌊forever_⌋*! Amen.

⁹ and to enlighten everyone as to what is the administration of the mystery hidden from the ages by God, who created all things,

⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped,

¹⁷ and he himself is before all things, and in him all things are held together,

¹⁶ And most certainly, great is the mystery of godliness:
Who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated by* the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles*, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

¹³ looking forward to the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

⁸ but concerning the Son,
"Your throne, O God, is _⌊forever and ever_⌋*, and the scepter of righteous is the scepter of your kingdom. ⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; because of this God, your God, has anointed you with the olive oil of joy more than your companions.* ¹⁰ And,
"You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of your hands; ¹¹ they will perish, but you continue, and they will all become old like a garment, ¹² and like a robe you will roll them up, and like a garment they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not run out."* ¹³ But to which of the angels has he ever said,
"Sit down at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."*

³ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God—he remains a priest for all time.

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and _⌊forever_⌋*.

¹ Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith equal in value to ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹ What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched, concerning the word of life— ² and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us—

⁷ For there are three that testify,*

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, in order that we may know the one who is true, and we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.

² who testified about the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all that he saw.

⁸ I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the one who is and the one who was and the one who is coming, the All-Powerful.

¹¹ saying, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

¹⁷ And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last,

⁸ "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
"This is what the first and the last says, who was dead and came to life:

¹⁴ "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
"This is what the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator* of God's creation, says:

¹³ And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

⁶ And he said to me, "It is done! I am* the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water from the spring of the water of life freely.*

¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

²⁶ And God said, "Let us make humankind in* our image and according to* our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven,* and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth."

⁶ By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

²⁵ Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

¹² I myself made the earth, and I created humankind upon it. I, my hands, stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.

¹⁸ For thus says Yahweh, _⌊who created_⌋* the heavens, he is God, _⌊who formed_⌋* the earth and _⌊who made_⌋* it. He himself established it; he did not create it as emptiness— he formed it for inhabiting.
"I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize* him.

¹⁷ But he answered* them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." ¹⁸ So on account of this the Jews were seeking even more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own Father, thus* making himself equal with God. ¹⁹ So Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing from himself except what he sees the Father doing. For whatever that one does, these things also the Son does likewise.

⁶ yet to us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we are for him, and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we are through him.

¹⁶ because all things in the heavens and on the earth were created by him, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers, all things were created through him and for him, ¹⁷ and he himself is before all things, and in him all things are held together,

² in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world,* ³ who is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, sustaining all things by the word of power.* When he* had made purification for sins through him, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

¹⁰ And,
"You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of your hands; ¹¹ they will perish, but you continue, and they will all become old like a garment, ¹² and like a robe you will roll them up, and like a garment they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not run out."*

³ For this one is considered worthy of greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as the one who builds it has greater honor than the house. ⁴ For every house is built by someone, but the one who built all things is God.

¹¹ "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created."

⁶ those who trust their wealth and boast about the abundance of their riches?

¹ For the music director, according to Shushan Eduth.* A miktam of David. To teach. When he fought Mesopotamia and Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand persons.*
O God, you have rejected us. You have broken us. You have been angry. Restore us! ² You have made the land quake. You have split it open. Heal its fissures, because it totters. ³ You have shown your people hard things; You have given us wine that staggers.

¹¹ Because Yahweh God is a sun and a shield; Yahweh gives grace and honor. He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.

⁴ Say to those who are hasty of heart,
"Be strong; you must not fear! Look! your God will come with vengeance, with _⌊divine retribution_⌋.* He _⌊is the one who_⌋* will come and save you." ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened.

⁶ "I am Yahweh; I have called you in righteousness, and I have grasped your hand and watched over you; and I have given you as a covenant of the people, as a light of the nations, ⁷ to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoner out from the dungeon, those who sit in darkness from the house of imprisonment.

¹⁶ And I will lead the blind by a road they do not know; I will cause them to tread on paths they have not known. I will make darkness _⌊in their presence_⌋* into light and rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.

² But for you who revere* my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like _⌊fattened calves_⌋.*

¹⁶ the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and the ones who sit in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned on them."*

⁷⁸ because of the merciful compassion* of our God by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high, ⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace."

³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to your people Israel."

⁸ That one was not the light, but came* in order that he could testify about the light. ⁹ The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world.

²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and makes them* alive, thus also the Son makes alive whomever he wishes.

²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, thus also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself.

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

²⁵ Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live,

³⁵ So Jesus said to them, "Yet a little time the light is with you! Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness does not overtake you! And the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

⁴⁶ I have come as a light into the world, in order that everyone who believes in me will not remain in the darkness.

⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

²³ that the Christ* was to suffer and that as the first of the resurrection from the dead, he was going to proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."

⁴⁵ Thus also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul";* the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

¹⁴ for everything made visible is light. Therefore it says,
Wake up, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.*

⁴ When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

² and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us—

⁵ And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.* ⁷ But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

¹ And he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming out from the throne of God and of the Lamb

¹⁶ "I, Jesus, sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

¹³ "Those are among the ones rebelling against the light; they do not recognize his ways, and they do not stay in his paths. ¹⁴ _⌊At dusk_⌋* the murderer rises; he kills the needy and the poor, and in the night he is like a* thief. ¹⁵ And the eye of the adulterer waits for dusk, saying, _⌊'No eye will see me,'_⌋* and he places a covering on his face. ¹⁶ He digs through houses in the darkness; by day they shut themselves in— they do not know the light ¹⁷ because morning likewise is to them deep darkness; indeed, they know about the terrors of deep darkness.

²² "_⌊How long_⌋,* O simple ones, will you love simplicity? And how long will scoffers delight in their scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

²⁹ Since they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Yahweh, ³⁰ they were not willing to accept my counsel, they despised all my reproof.

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.

³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light." Jesus said these things, and then he went away and* was hidden from them. ³⁷ But as many signs as he had performed before them, they did not believe in him, ³⁸ in order that the word of the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said,
"Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"* ³⁹ For this reason they were not able to believe, because again Isaiah said, ⁴⁰ "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their* eyes and understand with their* hearts and turn, and I heal them."*

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit _⌊to recognize God_⌋*, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do the things that are not proper,

¹⁴ But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

³ A voice is calling in the wilderness, "Clear the way of Yahweh! Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God! ⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall become low, And the rough ground shall be like a plain, and the rugged ground like a valley-plain. ⁵ And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all _⌊humankind_⌋* together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

¹ "Look! I am going to send my messenger,* and he will prepare* the way _⌊before me_⌋.* And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come," says Yahweh of hosts.

⁵ Look! I am going to send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh! ⁶ And he will bring back* the hearts of the fathers to the sons, and the hearts of the sons to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with a ban."

¹ Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Judean wilderness ² and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!" ³ For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"* ⁴ Now John himself had his clothing made from camel's hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they* confessed their sins. ⁷ But when he* saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! ⁹ And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ¹⁰ Already now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹⁰ It is this man about whom it is written:
'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'*

²⁵ From where was the baptism of John—from heaven or from men?" And they began to discuss* this* among themselves, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.* ² Just as it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
"Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, ³ the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths!'"* ⁴ John was there baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming* a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the Judean region and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ And John was dressed in camel's hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was preaching, saying, "One who is more powerful than I is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to bend down and* untie the strap of his sandals. ⁸ I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

¹³ But the angel said to him,
"Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.

¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he must never drink wine or beer, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while he is* still in his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready."

⁶¹ And they said to her, "There is no one of your relatives who is called by this name." ⁶² So they made signs to his father asking what he wanted him to be named, ⁶³ and he asked for a writing tablet and* wrote, saying, "John is his name." And they were all astonished.

⁷⁶ And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,

² in the time of the high priest Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the surrounding region of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight! ⁵ Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled, and the crooked will become straight, and the rough road will become* smooth, ⁶ and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'"* ⁷ Therefore he was saying to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁹ And even now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." ¹⁰ And the crowds were asking him, saying, "What then should we do?" ¹¹ And he answered and* said to them, "The one who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have one,* and the one who has food must do likewise." ¹² And tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" ¹³ And he said to them, "Collect no more than _⌊what you are ordered to_⌋."* ¹⁴ And those who served in the army were also asking him, saying, "What should we also do?" And he said to them, "Extort from no one, and do not blackmail anyone,* and be content with your pay." ¹⁵ And while* the people were waiting expectantly and all were pondering in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ,* ¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I am is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing shovel is in his hand, to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." ¹⁸ So with many other exhortations also he proclaimed good news to the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him concerning Herodias, his brother's wife, and concerning all the evil deeds that Herod had done, ²⁰ added this also to them all: he also locked up John in prison.

³³ And I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water, that one said to me, 'The one upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him—this one is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

²⁸ You yourselves testify about me that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I am sent before that one.'

²⁴ Before _⌊his coming_⌋* John had publicly proclaimed* a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

⁹ The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world.

¹² But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God,

¹⁵ John testified about him and cried out, saying, "This one was he about whom I said, 'The one who comes after me is ahead of me, because he existed before me.'"

¹⁹ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent* priests and Levites from Jerusalem so that they could ask him, "Who are you?"

²⁶ John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water. In your midst stands one whom you do not know— ²⁷ the one who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy _⌊to untie_⌋* the strap of his sandal!"

³² And John testified, saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and remaining upon him. ³³ And I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water, that one said to me, 'The one upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him—this one is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴ And I have seen and testify that this one is the Chosen One* of God.

³⁶ and looking at Jesus as he* was walking by, he said, "Look! The Lamb of God!"

²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, this one is baptizing, and all are coming to him!" ²⁷ John answered and said, "A man can receive not one thing unless it is granted to him from heaven! ²⁸ You yourselves testify about me that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I am sent before that one.' ²⁹ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices _⌊greatly_⌋* because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine is complete. ³⁰ It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease." ³¹ The one who comes from above is over all. The one who is from the earth is from the earth and speaks from the earth; the one who comes from heaven is over all. ³² What he has seen and heard, this he testifies, and no one accepts his testimony. ³³ The one who accepts his testimony has attested that God is true. ³⁴ For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit by measure. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶ The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life—but the wrath of God remains on him.*

³³ You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴ (And I do not receive testimony from people, but I say these things in order that you may be saved.) ³⁵ That one was the lamp which was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice for an hour in his light.

⁴ And Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who was to come after him—that is, in Jesus."

⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people,

⁹ The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he* does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

²⁰ And he confessed—and he did not deny, and confessed—"I am not the Christ!"

²⁰ for teaching and for testimony?" _⌊surely they who speak like this have no dawn_⌋.*

⁶ And he says, "It is trivial _⌊for you to be_⌋* a servant for me,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will give you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the end of the earth."

²³ But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.*

⁷ This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him.

³² Then Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven!

¹² And there was a lot of grumbling concerning him among the crowds; some were saying, "He is a good man," but others were saying, "No, but he deceives the crowd."

¹ "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

⁴ But you, brothers, are not in the darkness, so that the day should catch you like a thief, ⁵ for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. ⁶ So then, we must not sleep like the rest, but must be on the alert and be self-controlled. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

⁸ If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

⁸ Again, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because* the darkness is passing away and the true light already is shining.

⁶ And Yahweh said, "Behold, _⌊they are one people with one language_⌋,* and _⌊this is only the beginning of what they will do_⌋.* So* now nothing that they intend to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand _⌊each other's language_⌋."* ⁸ So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, for there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

¹³ So* she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are El-Roi,"* for she said, "Here I have seen after he who sees me."

¹ When* Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, "I am El-Shaddai;* walk before me and be blameless

³³ Then Yahweh left,* as he finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

⁴ And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, "Moses, Moses." And he said, "Here I am." ⁵ And he said, "You must not come near to here. Take off your sandals from on your feet, because the place on which you are standing, it is holy ground." ⁶ And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face because he was afraid of looking at God.

¹¹ "_⌊Thus_⌋* you shall say to them,
'Gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens. ¹² He is the maker of the earth by his power, who created the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out heaven.

²⁷ All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and _⌊anyone to whom_⌋* the Son wants to reveal him.*

⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome* it.

¹⁷ But he answered* them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."

²⁵ Righteous Father, although the world does not know you, yet I have known you, and these men have come to know that you sent me.

¹⁷ And yet he did not leave himself without witness by* doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you* with food and your hearts with gladness."

²⁴ the God who made the world and all the things in it. This one, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands as if he* needed anything, because* he himself gives to everyone life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of humanity to live on all the face of the earth, determining their fixed times and the fixed boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷ to search for God, if perhaps indeed they might feel around for him and find him.* And indeed he is not far away from each one of us,

²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.

⁸ which none of the rulers of this age knew. For if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

³ By faith we understand the worlds were created by the word of God, in order that what is seen did not come into existence from what is visible.

¹ See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called children of God, and we are! Because of this the world does not know us: because it did not know him.

² For* he went* up like a shoot before him, and like a root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that* we should see him, and no appearance that* we should take pleasure in him. ³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering, and acquainted with* sickness, and like _⌊one from whom others hide their faces_⌋,* he was despised, and we did not hold him in high regard.

²⁴ But he answered and* said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to be king over us!'

¹³ So the owner of the vineyard said, 'What should I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.' ¹⁴ But when* the tenant farmers saw him, they began to reason* with one another, saying, 'This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance will become ours!' ¹⁵ And they threw him out of the vineyard and* killed him.* What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

³² What he has seen and heard, this he testifies, and no one accepts his testimony.

²⁵ You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed.'* ²⁶ God, after he* had raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each of you back from your wickedness!"

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your* ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,

²⁶ "Men and brothers, sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear God—to us the message of this salvation has been sent!

⁴⁶ Both Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly and* said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life! Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles!

¹ I am telling the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit—

⁸ For I say, Christ has become a servant of the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, in order to confirm the promises to the fathers,

⁴ But when the fullness of time came, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

⁵ And I will give them a monument and a name in my house and within my walls, better than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

¹⁹ Then I thought, 'How I would set you among the children, and I would give you a land of desire, an inheritance of the glory of the hosts of nations.' And I thought, 'You would call me, "My father," and you would not turn back from _⌊behind_⌋* me.'

¹⁰ * The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted; and in the place where it is said to them, "You are not my people," it will be said to them, "Children of the living God."

⁴⁰ "The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me.

²¹ And in his name the Gentiles* will hope.*

⁵ and whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me.

²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name because they* saw his signs which he was doing.

¹⁸ The one who believes in him is not judged,* but the one who does not believe has already been judged,* because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

⁵² and not for the nation only, but also that the children of God who are scattered would be gathered into one.)

³¹ but these things are recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by* believing you may have life in his name.

¹⁶ And on the basis of faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁴ For all those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

¹⁷ Therefore "come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean,* and I will welcome you,* ¹⁸ and I will be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me,"* says the all-powerful Lord.

²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,*

⁶ And because you are sons, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba!* (Father!),"

⁶ Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, live in him,

⁴ through which things he has bestowed on us his precious and very great promises, so that through these you may become sharers of the divine nature after* escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire,

²³ And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as _⌊he commanded us_⌋*.

¹² The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.

²² And the children in her womb jostled each other, and she said, "_⌊If it is going to be like this, why be pregnant_⌋?"* And she went to inquire of Yahweh.

²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau because _⌊he could eat of his game_⌋,* but Rebekah loved Jacob.

⁴ Then make for me tasty food like I love, and bring it to me. And I will eat it so that I* can bless you before I die.

³³ Then Isaac _⌊trembled violently_⌋.* Then he said, "Who then was he that hunted wild game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I blessed him? Moreover, he will be blessed!"

³ Your people _⌊will volunteer_⌋* in the day of your power.* In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, you will have the dew of your youth.*

⁹ And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

³ Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born from above,* he is not able to see the kingdom of God."

⁵ Jesus answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born of water and spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'It is necessary for you to be born from above.'* ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

³³ They replied to him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have not been enslaved to anyone at any time. How do you say, 'You will become free'?" ³⁴ Jesus replied to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And the slave does not remain in the household _⌊forever_⌋;* the son remains _⌊forever_⌋.* ³⁶ So if the son sets you free, you will be truly free. ³⁷ I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no progress among you. ³⁸ I speak the things that I have seen with the Father; so also you do the things that you have heard from the Father." ³⁹ They answered and said to him, "Abraham is our father!" Jesus said to them, "If you are children of Abraham, do the deeds of Abraham! ⁴⁰ But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who spoke to you the truth which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. ⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of your father!"
They said* to him, "We were not born from sexual immorality! We have one father, God!"

¹ I am telling the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit— ² that my grief is great and there is constant distress in my heart. ³ For I could wish myself to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my fellow countrymen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, ⁵ to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed _⌊forever_⌋*! Amen.

⁷ nor are they all children because they are descendants of Abraham, but "In Isaac will your descendants be named."* ⁸ That is, it is not the children _⌊by human descent_⌋* who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants. ⁹ For the statement of the promise is this: "At this time I will return and _⌊Sarah will have_⌋* a son."* ¹⁰ And not only this, but also when* Rebecca conceived children by one man,* Isaac our father— ¹¹ for although they* had not yet been born, or done anything good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might remain, ¹² not by works but by the one who calls—it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger,"* ¹³ just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."* ¹⁴ What then shall we say? There is no injustice with God, is there?* May it never be! ¹⁵ For to Moses he says, "I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion."* ¹⁶ Consequently therefore, _⌊it does not depend on the_⌋* one who wills or on the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy.

¹ Brothers, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God on behalf of them is for their salvation. ² For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For ignoring the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own,* they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing it to grow.

¹³ For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God.

⁵ he saved us, not by deeds of righteousness that we have done, but because of his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

¹⁸ By his* will he gave birth to us through the message of truth, so that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

²³ because you* have been born again, not from perishable seed but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

² like newborn infants long for the unadulterated spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation,

²⁸ And now, little children, remain in him, so that whenever he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming. ²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone* who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.

⁹ Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin, because his seed resides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.

¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves _⌊the father_⌋* also loves the child fathered by him.

⁴ because everyone who is fathered by God conquers the world.

¹⁸ We know that everyone who is fathered by God does not sin, but the one fathered by God, he protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

⁷ I will tell the decree; Yahweh said to me: "You are my son; today I have begotten you.

² You are the most handsome of the sons of humankind; grace is poured out on your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.

⁵ And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all _⌊humankind_⌋* together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

² For* he went* up like a shoot before him, and like a root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that* we should see him, and no appearance that* we should take pleasure in him.

¹ "Arise, shine! For your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you. ² For look! darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but* Yahweh will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you.

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

²⁰ But as* he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will give birth to a son, and you will call his name 'Jesus,' because he will save his people from their sins." ²² Now all this happened in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, ²³ "Behold, the virgin _⌊will become pregnant_⌋* and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel,"*
which is translated, "God with us."*

¹ And after six days Jesus took along Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became bright as the light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. ⁴ So Peter answered and* said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here! If you want, I will make here three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁵ While* he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

³¹ And behold, you will conceive in the womb and will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus. ³² This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. ³³ And he will reign over the house of Jacob _⌊forever_⌋,* and of his kingdom there will be no end. ³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?" ³⁵ And the angel answered and* said to her,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

¹¹ that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.

³² Now Peter and those with him were _⌊very sleepy_⌋,* but when they* became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him.

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, and grace after grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him* known.

¹¹ This beginning of signs Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

¹⁶ For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.

⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live _⌊forever_⌋.* And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

⁴⁰ "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their* eyes and understand with their* hearts and turn, and I heal them."* ⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him.

⁹ Jesus said to him, "Am I with you so long a time and you have not known me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, 'Show us the Father?'

²² And the glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, in order that they may be one, just as we are one—

³³ this promise* God has fulfilled to our children* by* raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm,
'You are my Son; today I have fathered you.'*

³ concerning his Son, who was born _⌊a descendant_⌋* of David according to the flesh, ⁴ who was declared Son of God in power according to _⌊the Holy Spirit_⌋* by the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord,

³ For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did. By* sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

⁴⁷ The first man is from the earth, made of earth; the second man is from heaven.

⁴ among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus* as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. ⁶ For God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness,"* is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.*

⁹ And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, because the* power is perfected in weakness." Therefore rather I will boast most gladly in my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may reside in me.

⁸ To me, the least of all the saints, was given this grace: to proclaim the good news of the fathomless riches of Christ to the Gentiles,

¹⁸ in order that you may be strong enough to grasp together with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself by* taking the form of a slave, by* becoming in the likeness of people. And being found in appearance like a man, ⁸ he humbled himself by* becoming obedient to the point of death, that is, death on a cross.

¹⁹ because he was well pleased for all the fullness to dwell in him,

³ in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

⁹ because in him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily,

¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord abounded with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and worthy of all acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But because of this I was shown mercy, in order that in me foremost, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his total patience, for an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.

³ who is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, sustaining all things by the word of power.* When he* had made purification for sins through him, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

⁵ For to which of the angels did he ever say,
"You are my son, today I have begotten you,"*
and again,
"I will be _⌊his father_⌋*, and he will be _⌊my son_⌋*"?*

¹¹ For both the one who sanctifies and the ones who are sanctified are all from one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in blood and flesh, he also in like manner shared in these same things, in order that through death he could destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and could set free these who through fear of death were subject to slavery throughout all their lives. ¹⁶ For surely he is not concerned with angels, but he is concerned with the descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore he was obligated to be made like his brothers in all respects, in order that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things relating to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

⁵ Thus also Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest, but the one who said to him,
"You are my Son, today I have begotten you,"*

⁵ Therefore, when he* came into the world, he said,
"Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you prepared for me;

⁴ to whom you are drawing near, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and precious in the sight of God. ⁵ And you yourselves, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in scripture,
"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame."* ⁷ Therefore the honor is for you who believe, but for those who refuse to believe,
"The stone that the builders rejected, this one has become _⌊the cornerstone_⌋*,"

¹⁶ For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by* following ingeniously concocted myths, but by* being eyewitnesses of that one's majesty. ¹⁷ For he received honor and glory from God the Father when* a voice such as this was brought to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

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

⁹ By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God sent his one and only Son into the world in order that we may live through him.

¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ* coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist!

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Behold, the dwelling of God is with humanity, and he will take up residence with them, and they will be his people and God himself will be with them.*

²² "Yahweh possessed* me, the first of his ways, before his acts _⌊of old_⌋.*

² But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go out for me, to be ruler in Israel; and his origins are from of old, from ancient days.

¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John in order to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent* him, saying, "_⌊I need_⌋* to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" ¹⁵ But Jesus answered and* said to him, "Permit it now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted him. ¹⁶ Now after he* was baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened* and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming* upon him. ¹⁷ And behold, there was* a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

⁷ And he was preaching, saying, "One who is more powerful than I is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to bend down and* untie the strap of his sandals.

¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I am is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² This one was in the beginning with God.

⁷ This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him. ⁸ That one was not the light, but came* in order that he could testify about the light.

²⁷ the one who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy _⌊to untie_⌋* the strap of his sandal!"

²⁹ On the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This one is the one about whom I said, 'After me is coming a man who is ahead of me, because he existed before me.' ³¹ And I did not know him, but in order that he could be revealed to Israel, because of this I came baptizing with water."

³³ You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴ (And I do not receive testimony from people, but I say these things in order that you may be saved.) ³⁵ That one was the lamp which was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice for an hour in his light. ³⁶ "But I have a testimony greater than John's, for the works which the Father has given to me that I should complete them—the very works which I am doing—these testify about me, that the Father has sent me.

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am!"

⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself by* taking the form of a slave, by* becoming in the likeness of people. And being found in appearance like a man,

¹⁷ And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the one who lives, and I was dead, and behold, I am living _⌊forever and ever_⌋*, and I hold the keys of death and of Hades.

⁷ 'Who are you O great mountain? _⌊Before_⌋* Zerubbabel you will become level ground, and he will bring out the top stone amid the shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" '"

¹⁴ But John tried to prevent* him, saying, "_⌊I need_⌋* to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

¹² For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all your opponents will not be able to resist or contradict.

³⁴ For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit by measure.

¹ "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch that does not bear fruit in me, he removes it, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it in order that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I in you. Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit from itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. ⁵ "I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything.

¹² And when he* saw it,* Peter replied to the people, "Men and Israelites, why are you astonished at this? Or why are you staring at us, as if by our own power or godliness we have made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham and of Isaac* and of Jacob,* the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, after* he had decided to release him.* ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and demanded that a man—a murderer—be granted to you. ¹⁵ And you killed the originator of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses! ¹⁶ And on the basis of faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

² through whom also we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

¹⁷ For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.

²⁰ Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance,

⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person _⌊does not belong to him_⌋*.

⁴ I give thanks to my God always concerning you, because of the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that* in everything you were made rich in him, in all speech and all knowledge, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace that he bestowed on us in the beloved, ⁷ in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ that he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight,

²³ which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

⁵ and we being dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), ⁶ and raised us together and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ it is not from works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we may walk in them.

¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

⁷ Now to each one of us was given this grace, according to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸ Therefore it says,
"Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men."* ⁹ Now "he ascended," what is it, except that he also descended* to the lower regions of the earth? ¹⁰ The one who descended himself is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order that he might fill all things. ¹¹ And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers ¹² for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ,

⁹ because in him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you are filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority,

² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

¹¹ investigating for what person or which time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he* testified beforehand to the sufferings with reference to Christ and the glories after these things,

¹⁵ And I will put hostility between you and between the woman, and between your offspring* and between her offspring;* he will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel."

¹⁸ All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice."

¹ And God spoke all these words, saying, ² "I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves. ³ "There shall be for you no other gods before me. ⁴ "You shall not make for yourself a divine image with any form that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth below or that is in the water below the earth. ⁵ You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I am Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing the guilt of the parents on the children on the third and on the fourth generations* of those hating me, ⁶ and showing loyal love to thousands of generations* of those loving me and of those keeping my commandments. ⁷ "You shall not _⌊misuse the name of Yahweh your God_⌋,* because Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who _⌊misuses his name_⌋.* ⁸ "Remember the day of the Sabbath, to consecrate it. ⁹ Six days you will work, and you will do all your work. ¹⁰ But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work—you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your alien who is in your gates— ¹¹ because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore Yahweh blessed the seventh day and consecrated it. ¹² "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days can be long on the land that Yahweh your God is giving you. ¹³ "You shall not murder. ¹⁴ "You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵ "You shall not steal. ¹⁶ "You shall not testify against your neighbor with a false witness. ¹⁷ "You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; you will not covet the wife of your neighbor or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's."

⁴⁴ Now this is the law* that Moses set _⌊before_⌋* the _⌊Israelites_⌋;*

¹ And then Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, "Hear, Israel, the rules and the regulations that I am speaking in your ears _⌊today_⌋,* and you shall learn them, and _⌊you must observe them diligently_⌋.*

⁴ A law Moses instructed for us, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

¹⁰ Loyal love and faithfulness* will meet one another; righteousness and peace will kiss.

¹ A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.*
I will sing forever of Yahweh's acts of loyal love. _⌊From generation to generation_⌋* I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth. ² For I say, "Forever your loyal love is built up. The heavens you have established with your faithfulness in them."

³ He has remembered his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation* of our God.

²⁰ You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors* from the days of old.

⁵⁴ He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, ⁵⁵ just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants _⌊forever_⌋."*

⁶⁸ "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited to help and _⌊has redeemed_⌋* his people, ⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, ⁷⁰ just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times— ⁷¹ salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us, ⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us ⁷⁴ that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, could serve him without fear ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. ⁷⁶ And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins,

⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father! The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope!

¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law, and none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill me?"

³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from."

³⁸ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and who with our fathers received living oracles to give to us,

³⁴ But that he has raised him from the dead, no more going to return to decay, he has spoken in this way: 'I will give you the reliable divine decrees of David.'* ³⁵ Therefore he also says in another psalm,*
'You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.'* ³⁶ For David, after* serving the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and _⌊was buried with_⌋* his fathers, and experienced decay. ³⁷ But he whom God raised up did not experience decay. ³⁸ "Therefore let it be known to you, men and brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all the things from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses, ³⁹ by this one everyone who believes is justified!

²³ And when they* had set a day with him, many more came to him at his lodging place, to whom he was explaining from early in the morning until evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and attempting to convince* them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law, in order that every mouth may be closed and the whole world may become accountable to God. ²⁰ For by the works of the law _⌊no person will be declared righteous_⌋* before him, for through the law comes knowledge of sin. ²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified about by the law and the prophets— ²² that is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ* to all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God made publicly available as the mercy seat* through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness, because of the passing over of previously committed sins, ²⁶ in the forbearance of God, for the demonstration of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just and the one who justifies the person by faith* in Jesus.

²⁰ Now the law came in as a side issue, in order that the trespass could increase, but where sin increased, grace was present in greater abundance, ²¹ so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁴ For sin will not be master over you, because you are not under law, but under grace.

⁸ For I say, Christ has become a servant of the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, in order to confirm the promises to the fathers, ⁹ and that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, just as it is written,
"Because of this, I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praise to your name."* ¹⁰ And again it says,
"Rejoice, Gentiles, with his people."* ¹¹ And again,
"Praise the Lord, all the Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him."* ¹² And again Isaiah says,
"The root of Jesse will come, even the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will put their hope."*

²⁰ For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are "yes"; therefore also through him is the "amen" to the glory of God through us.

⁷ But if the ministry of death in letters carved on stone came with glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look intently into the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, which was transitory, ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit not be even more with glory? ⁹ For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, by much more will the ministry of righteousness overflow with glory. ¹⁰ For indeed what had been glorified has not been glorified in this case, on account of the glory that surpasses it.

¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things that are written in the book of the law to do them."* ¹¹ Now it is clear that no one is justified in the sight of God by the law, because "the one who is righteous will live by faith."* ¹² But the law is not from faith, but "the one who does these things will live by them."* ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by* becoming a curse for us, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,"*

¹⁷ Now I am saying this: the law, that came after four hundred and thirty years, does not revoke a covenant previously ratified by God, in order to nullify the promise.

⁵ And Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony to the things that would be spoken, ⁶ but Christ was faithful* as a son over his house, whose house we are, if* we hold fast to our confidence and the hope we can be proud of.

⁸ For in finding fault with them he says,
"Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ⁹ not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be _⌊their_⌋* God and they will be _⌊my_⌋* people. ¹¹ And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. ¹² For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, and I will not remember their sins any longer."

²² Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, when he* came into the world, he said,
"Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you prepared for me; ⁶ you did not delight in whole burnt offerings and offerings for sins. ⁷ Then I said, 'Behold, I have come— in the roll of the book it is written about me— to do your will, O God.' ⁸ When he says above,
"Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not want, nor did you delight in,"*
which are offered according to the law, ⁹ then he has said,
"Behold, I have come to do your will."*
He takes away the first in order to establish the second, ¹⁰ by which will we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

³⁹ And although they* all were approved* through their faith, they did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ because* God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

⁸ And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one of whom had a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they were singing a new song, saying,
"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and bought people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation, ¹⁰ and made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth."

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great crowd that no one was able to number, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying,
"Salvation to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" ¹¹ And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying,
"Amen! Praise and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and strength be to our God _⌊forever and ever_⌋*. Amen!" ¹³ And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are dressed in the white robes—who are they, and from where have they come?" ¹⁴ And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me,
"These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ Because of this, they are before the throne of God, and they serve* him day and night in his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne _⌊will shelter_⌋* them. ¹⁶ They will not be hungry any longer or be thirsty any longer, nor will the sun ever beat down on them, nor any heat,* ¹⁷ because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and will lead them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."*

²⁸ And he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,* for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed." ²⁹ Then Jacob asked and said, "Please tell me your name." And he said, "Why do you ask this—for my name?" And he blessed him there. ³⁰ Then Jacob called the name of the place Peniel which means "I have seen God face to face and my life was spared."

¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph and said,
"The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, The God who shepherded me _⌊all my life_⌋* unto this day, ¹⁶ The angel who redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys. And through them let my name be perpetuated,* and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And let them multiply into many in the midst of the earth.

²¹ Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression, for my name is in him.

¹⁸ And he said, "Please show me your glory." ¹⁹ And he said, "I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion." ²⁰ But he said, "You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live." ²¹ And Yahweh said, "There is a place with me, and you will stand on the rock. ²² _⌊And_⌋* when my glory passes over, I will put you in the rock's crevice, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass over. ²³ And I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face will not be visible."

⁵ And Yahweh descended in the cloud, and he stood with him there, and he proclaimed the name of Yahweh. ⁶ And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, "Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, _⌊slow to anger_⌋,* and abounding with* loyal love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations."

⁸ I will speak to him mouth to mouth, in clearness, not in riddles; and he will look at the form of Yahweh.
Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?"

¹² And Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; _⌊you heard_⌋* a sound of words, but _⌊you did not see_⌋* a form—only a voice.

¹³ And it happened, when Joshua was by Jericho, _⌊he looked up_⌋,* and he saw a man standing _⌊opposite him_⌋* with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, "Are you with us, or with our adversaries?"

¹² The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, "Yahweh is with you, _⌊you mighty warrior_⌋."* ¹³ Gideon said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. If Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors* recounted to us, saying, 'Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has forsaken us; he has given us into the palm of Midian." ¹⁴ And Yahweh turned to him and said, "Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?" ¹⁵ He said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house." ¹⁶ And Yahweh said to him, "But I will be with you, and you will defeat Midian _⌊as if they are one man_⌋."* ¹⁷ And he* said to him, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, _⌊show me a sign_⌋* that you are speaking with me. ¹⁸ Please, do not depart from here until I come back to you and bring out my gift and set it out before you."* And he said, "I will stay until you return." ¹⁹ And Gideon went and prepared _⌊a young goat_⌋* and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought them to him under the oak* and presented them. ²⁰ The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock; pour the broth over it." And he did so. ²¹ Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went _⌊from his sight_⌋.* ²² And Gideon realized that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face." ²³ And Yahweh said to him, "Peace be with you. Do not fear; you will not die." ²⁴ And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it "Yahweh is peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.* ²⁵ Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, "Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah* that is beside it; ²⁶ and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah* that you will cut down.

²⁰ And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife were watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground. ²¹ The angel of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, and then Manoah knew that he was a messenger* of Yahweh. ²² And Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die because we have seen God." ²³ But his wife said to him, "If Yahweh wanted to kill us he would not have taken* from our hand the burnt offering and the grain offering, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us things such as these."

³⁰ I was _⌊beside_⌋* him, a master workman, and I was delighting day by day, rejoicing before him _⌊always_⌋,*

¹ In the year of the death of Uzziah the king, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and raised throne, and the hem of his robe was filling the temple. ² Seraphs were standing above him. _⌊Each had six wings_⌋:* with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And the one called to the other and said,
"Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts! The _⌊whole earth is full of his glory_⌋."*

¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arm, and he will carry them in his bosom; he will lead those who nurse.

¹² To their mothers they say, "Where is the bread and wine?" as they faint like the wounded in the public squares of a city, as their life is being poured out onto the bosom of their mothers.

²⁶ And from above the expanse that was above their heads there was the likeness of a throne, _⌊looking like a sapphire_⌋,* and above the likeness of the throne was a likeness similar to* the appearance of a human on it, but _⌊above it_⌋.* ²⁷ And I saw something like the outward appearance of amber, something like the appearance of fire, with a covering around it, from the likeness of his loins and _⌊upward_⌋.* And from the likeness of his loins and _⌊downward_⌋* I saw something like the appearance of fire, and _⌊it was radiant all around_⌋.* ²⁸ Like the appearance* of a bow that is in the cloud on _⌊a rainy day_⌋,* such was the radiance* around it; thus was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking.

³ In the womb he deceived his brother, and in his manhood he struggled with God. ⁴ He struggled with the angel and prevailed; he pleaded for his mercy. He met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.* ⁵ Yahweh the God of hosts, Yahweh is his renowned name!

²² All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him."*

²² Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to _⌊Abraham's side_⌋.* And the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And in Hades he lifted up his eyes as he* was in torment and* saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus _⌊at his side_⌋.*

¹⁶ For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world in order that he should judge* the world, but in order that the world should be saved through him. ¹⁸ The one who believes in him is not judged,* but the one who does not believe has already been judged,* because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

⁴⁶ (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God—this one has seen the Father.)*

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him.

²³ One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining _⌊close beside_⌋* Jesus.

⁶ "I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me, and they have kept your word.

²⁶ And I made known to them your name, and will make it* known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I may be in them."

¹⁵ who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all* creation,

¹⁷ Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, to the only God, be honor and glory _⌊forever and ever_⌋*. Amen.

¹⁶ the one who alone possesses immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen nor is able to see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.

¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us and his love is perfected in us.

²⁰ If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen is not able to love God whom he has not seen.

⁹ then you shall go to the priests and the Levites and to the judge who will be in office in those days, and you shall enquire, and they shall announce to you _⌊the verdict_⌋.* ¹⁰ "And _⌊you shall carry out exactly the decision_⌋* that they announced to you from that place that Yahweh will choose, and _⌊you shall diligently observe_⌋* according to all that they instruct you. ¹¹ And so according to _⌊the instruction of the law_⌋* that they teach you and according to the decisions that they say to you, you shall do; you shall not turn from the word that they tell you to the right or to the left.

⁸ Be watchful* _⌊with respect to_⌋* an outbreak of any infectious skin disease, by being very careful and by acting* according to all that the priests and the Levites have instructed you, just as I have commanded them, _⌊so you shall diligently observe_⌋.*

²³ And after* he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him while he* was teaching, saying, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?" ²⁴ And Jesus answered and* said to them, "I also will ask you one question. If you tell the answer* to me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ From where was the baptism of John—from heaven or from men?" And they began to discuss* this* among themselves, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' ²⁶ But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the crowd, because they all look upon John as a prophet." ²⁷ And they answered and* said to Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁸ "Now what do you think? A man had two sons. He approached* the first and* said, 'Son, go work in the vineyard today.' ²⁹ And he answered and* said, 'I do not want to!' But later he changed his mind and* went. ³⁰ And he approached the second* and* said the same thing. So he answered and* said, 'I will, sir,' and he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his* father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God! ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And when* you saw it,* you did not even change your minds later so as to believe in him.

¹⁵ And while* the people were waiting expectantly and all were pondering in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ,* ¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I am is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing shovel is in his hand, to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." ¹⁸ So with many other exhortations also he proclaimed good news to the people.

¹⁸ So the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign do you show to us, because you are doing these things?"

¹⁰ So the Jews were saying to the one who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permitted for you to pick up the mat!"*

⁴¹ Now the Jews began to grumble* about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven,"

⁵² So the Jews began to quarrel* _⌊among themselves_⌋,* saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

²⁴ So the Jews surrounded him and began to say* to him, "_⌊How long will you keep us in suspense_⌋?* If you are the Christ, tell us plainly!"

²⁵ But while John was completing his* mission, he said, 'What do you suppose me to be? I am not he! But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of his* feet!'

¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I am, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

¹⁵ And while* the people were waiting expectantly and all were pondering in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ,* ¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I am is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing shovel is in his hand, to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

¹⁵ "Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your countrymen,* and to him you shall listen. ¹⁶ This is _⌊according to all that you asked_⌋* from Yahweh your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, _⌊saying_⌋,* '_⌊I do not want again to hear_⌋* the voice of Yahweh my God, and I do not want to see again this great fire, so that I may not die!' ¹⁷ And Yahweh said to me, 'They are right in what they have said. ¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet for them _⌊from among their countrymen_⌋* like you, and I will place* my words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them _⌊everything that I command him_⌋.*

⁵ Look! I am going to send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh!

⁹ But why did you go out? To see a prophet?* Yes, I tell you, and even more than a prophet! ¹⁰ It is this man about whom it is written:
'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'* ¹¹ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist. But the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it,* he is Elijah, the one who is going to come.

¹⁴ And they said, _⌊Some_⌋* say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

¹⁰ And the disciples asked him, saying, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" ¹¹ And he answered and* said, "Elijah indeed is coming, and will restore all things. ¹² But I say to you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did with him whatever they wanted. In the same way also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

¹⁷ And he will go on before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready."

²⁵ And they asked him and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

⁴⁰ Then, when they* heard these words, some from the crowd began to say,* "This man is truly the Prophet!"

¹³ Then Gad came to David, and he told him and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine in the land come to you? Or three months of your fleeing from your enemies while he is pursuing you? Or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must return to the one who sent me a word."

³ For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"*

³ the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths!'"*

⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight! ⁵ Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled, and the crooked will become straight, and the rough road will become* smooth, ⁶ and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'"*

¹³ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you shut the kingdom of heaven before people! For you do not enter, nor permit those wanting to go in* to enter.*

¹⁵ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you travel around the sea and the dry land to make one convert, and when he becomes one,* you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are!

²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish,* so that the outside of it may become clean also.

³⁰ but the Pharisees and the legal experts rejected the purpose of God for themselves, because they* had not been baptized by him.)

³⁹ But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of greediness and wickedness. ⁴⁰ Fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But give as charitable giving the things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. ⁴² "But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these things without neglecting those things also. ⁴³ Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces! ⁴⁴ Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, and the people who walk over them* do not know it!*

⁵³ And when* he departed from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly hostile, and to question him closely about many things,

¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees _⌊whose name was_⌋* Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to him at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are* a teacher who has come from God, for no one is able to perform these signs that you are performing unless God were with him."

⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees replied to them, "You have not also been deceived, have you?* ⁴⁸ _⌊None_⌋* of the rulers or of the Pharisees have believed in him, have they?* ⁴⁹ But this crowd who does not know the law is accursed!"

⁸ (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)

⁵ having known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that in accordance with the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

⁵ _⌊circumcised on the eighth day_⌋*, from the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born from Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee, ⁶ according to zeal persecuting the church, according to the righteousness in the law being blameless.

¹⁵ "Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your countrymen,* and to him you shall listen.

¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet for them _⌊from among their countrymen_⌋* like you, and I will place* my words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them _⌊everything that I command him_⌋.*

²⁴ "Seventy weeks is decreed for your people and _⌊for your holy city_⌋,* to put an end to the transgression and to seal up sin* and to make atonement for guilt and to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint _⌊the most holy place_⌋.* ²⁵ And you must know and you must understand* that from the time of the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed* one—a leader—will be _⌊seven weeks and sixty-two weeks_⌋;* it will be restored and will be built with streets and a moat, but _⌊in a time of oppression_⌋.* ²⁶ "And after the sixty and two weeks an anointed one* shall be cut off, and _⌊he shall have nothing_⌋,* and the people of the coming leader will destroy the city and the sanctuary,* and its end will be with the flood and on to the end there shall be war; these desolations are determined.

²³ And after* he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him while he* was teaching, saying, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?"

²⁰ And he confessed—and he did not deny, and confessed—"I am not the Christ!" ²¹ And they asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not!" "Are you the Prophet?"* And he answered, "No!" ²² Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?"

⁵ And it happened that on the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes came together in Jerusalem, ⁶ and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all those who were from the high priest's family. ⁷ And they made them stand in their* midst and* began to ask,* "By what power or by what name did you do this?"

²⁸ saying, "_⌊We strictly commanded_⌋* you* not to teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching! And you are intending to bring upon us the blood of this man!"

¹ "Look! I am going to send my messenger,* and he will prepare* the way _⌊before me_⌋.* And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come," says Yahweh of hosts. ² And who can endure the day of his coming? And who is the one who can stand _⌊when he appears_⌋?* For he is like a refiner's fire, like launderers' alkali.*

⁸ I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize* him. ¹¹ He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him.

¹⁹ So they were saying to him, "Where is your father?" Jesus replied, "You know neither me nor my Father! If you had known me, you would have known my Father also."

³ And they will do these things because they do not know the Father or me.

³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

⁵ For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit _⌊not many days from now_⌋."*

¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'*

³⁰ This one is the one about whom I said, 'After me is coming a man who is ahead of me, because he existed before me.'

²⁴ And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down to oppose* Midian, and capture from them the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan." He called out all the men of Ephraim, and they captured the waters up to Beth Barah and the Jordan.

²³ Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and they were coming and were being baptized.

²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, this one is baptizing, and all are coming to him!"

⁴⁰ And he went away again on the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John was baptizing at an earlier time, and he stayed there.

⁵ "_⌊Why_⌋* was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"

⁷ And Isaac said to Abraham his father, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" ⁸ And Abraham said, "_⌊God will provide_⌋* the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went together.

³ Speak to all the community of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month, they will each take for themselves _⌊a lamb for the family_⌋,* a lamb for the household. ⁴ And if the household is too small for a lamb, he and the neighbor nearest to his house will take one according to the number of persons;* you will count out portions of the lamb _⌊according to how much each one can eat_⌋.* ⁵ The lamb for you must be a male, without defect, in its first year; you will take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶ "_⌊You will keep it_⌋* until the fourteenth day of this month, and all the assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter it _⌊at twilight_⌋.* ⁷ And they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel on the houses in which they eat it. ⁸ And they will eat the meat on this night; they will eat it fire-roasted and with unleavened bread on _⌊bitter herbs_⌋.* ⁹ You must not eat any of it raw or boiled, boiled in the water, but rather roasted with fire, its head with its legs and with its inner parts. ¹⁰ And you must not leave any of it until morning; anything left from it until morning you must burn in the fire. ¹¹ And this is how you will eat it—with your waists fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you will eat it in haste. It is Yahweh's Passover. ¹² "And I will go through the land of Egypt during this night, and I will strike all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and I will do punishments among all of the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. ¹³ And the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt.

³⁸ And it will be on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron will bear the guilt of the holy objects that the _⌊Israelites_⌋* will consecrate for all their holy gifts, and it will be on his forehead continually for acceptance for them before Yahweh.

¹⁷ "Why did you not eat the sin offering on the sanctuary's site, because it is _⌊a most holy thing_⌋?* And he gave it to you to remove the community's guilt, to make atonement for them _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh.

²¹ And Aaron shall place his two hands on the living goat's head, and he shall confess over it all the _⌊Israelites_⌋'* iniquities and all their transgressions for all their sins, and he shall put them on the goat's head, and he shall send it* away into the desert _⌊with_⌋* a man standing ready.* ²² Thus* the goat shall bear on it to _⌊a barren region_⌋* all their guilt, and he shall send the goat away into the desert.

¹ Yahweh said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your family with you will bear the guilt of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you will bear the guilt of your priesthood.

²³ The Levites* will perform the service of the tent of assembly, and they will bear their guilt, an eternal decree for all your generations. But they will not receive an inheritance in the midst of the _⌊Israelites_⌋*

³ You will say to them, 'This is the offering made by fire that you will offer to Yahweh: two male lambs without defect _⌊in their first year_⌋* as a continual burnt offering each day. ⁴ You will offer one male lamb in the morning, and the second male lamb you will offer _⌊at twilight_⌋,* ⁵ and a tenth of an ephah of finely milled flour as a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a measure of beaten oil. ⁶ It is a continual burnt offering that was _⌊ordained_⌋* on Mount Sinai as a fragrance of appeasement, an offering made by fire for Yahweh. ⁷ The libation with it will be a fourth of a liquid measure for each male lamb; in the sanctuary you will pour out the libation of fermented drink for Yahweh. ⁸ And the second male lamb you will offer _⌊at twilight_⌋;* as the grain offering of the morning and as its libation you will offer it, an offering made by fire, a fragrance of appeasement for Yahweh. ⁹ " 'On the day of the Sabbath, two male lambs without defect _⌊in their first year_⌋,* and two-tenths of finely milled flour mixed with oil for a grain offering and its libation. ¹⁰ This is the burnt offering every Sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet* he did not open his mouth; he was brought like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep is dumb before its shearers, so* he did not open his mouth.

¹¹ From the trouble of his life* he will see;* he will be satisfied. In his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, shall declare many righteous,* and he is the one who will bear their iniquities.

² Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Say to him, "Take away all guilt; accept good, and we will offer the fruit* of our lips.

²¹ And she will give birth to a son, and you will call his name 'Jesus,' because he will save his people from their sins."

²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

³² Now the passage of scripture that he was reading aloud was this:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

³⁹ by this one everyone who believes is justified!

³ For I passed on to you _⌊as of first importance_⌋* what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,

²¹ He made the one who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf, in order that we could become the righteousness of God in him.

⁴ who gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by* becoming a curse for us, because it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,"*

⁶ who gave himself a ransom for all, the testimony at the proper time,

¹⁴ who gave himself for us, in order that he might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

¹⁷ Therefore he was obligated to be made like his brothers in all respects, in order that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things relating to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.

²⁸ thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb

²⁴ who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we may die to sins and live to righteousness, by whose wounds you were healed.

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, in order that he could bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

² and he* is the propitiation* for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

⁵ And you know that that one was revealed in order that he might take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

¹⁰ In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation* for our sins.

⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood

⁶ And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as though slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.

⁸ And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one of whom had a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

¹² saying with a loud voice,
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" ¹³ And I heard every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea and everything in them saying,
"To the one who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power* _⌊forever and ever_⌋*."

¹ And I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, "Come!"

¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great crowd that no one was able to number, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying,
"Salvation to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

¹⁴ And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me,
"These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁷ because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and will lead them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."*

¹¹ And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives until death.

⁸ And all those who live on the earth will worship him, _⌊everyone whose name is not written_⌋* from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

¹ And I looked, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.

⁴ These are those who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were bought from humanity as first fruits to God and to the Lamb,

¹⁰ he himself also will drink of the wine of the anger of God that has been mixed full strength in the cup of his wrath, and will be tortured with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

³ And they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
"Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God All-Powerful; righteous and true are your ways, King of the ages!*

¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory, because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.

⁹ And he said to me, "Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!" And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."

⁹ And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

¹⁴ And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

²² And I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

²⁷ And every unclean thing and one who practices* detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb.

² But for you who revere* my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like _⌊fattened calves_⌋.* ³ You will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am going to act," says Yahweh of hosts. ⁴ "Remember the instruction* of my servant Moses, which I commanded him at Horeb to all Israel, the rules and regulations. ⁵ Look! I am going to send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh!

⁶ and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they* confessed their sins.

³ the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths!'"* ⁴ John was there baptizing in the wilderness, proclaiming* a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the Judean region and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁷⁶ And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸ because of the merciful compassion* of our God by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high, ⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace." ⁸⁰ And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

³⁹ And when they had completed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child was growing and becoming strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. ⁴¹ And his parents went every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast.

³ And he went into all the surrounding region of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!

¹⁶ Now after he* was baptized, Jesus immediately went up from the water, and behold, the heavens opened* and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove coming* upon him.

¹⁰ And immediately as he* was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being split apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.

²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

³² There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true.

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John in order to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ But John tried to prevent* him, saying, "_⌊I need_⌋* to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" ¹⁵ But Jesus answered and* said to him, "Permit it now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted him.

³¹ And I did not know him, but in order that he could be revealed to Israel, because of this I came baptizing with water."

⁵ Jesus answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born of water and spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages* as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out.

⁴⁴ While* Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who were listening to the message. ⁴⁵ And those believers from the circumcision who had accompanied Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, ⁴⁶ for they heard them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ "Surely no one can withhold the water for these people to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit as we also did!"

¹⁵ And as I was beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as also on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'*

² And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you* believed?" And they said to him, "But we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit!" ³ And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into the baptism of John." ⁴ And Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who was to come after him—that is, in Jesus." ⁵ And when they* heard this,* they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when* Paul laid hands* on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began to speak* in tongues and to prophesy.

¹³ For by* one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free persons, and all were made to drink one Spirit.

⁵ he saved us, not by deeds of righteousness that we have done, but because of his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

²⁶ He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.' ²⁷ I will also make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

¹⁷ And behold, there was* a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

³ And the tempter approached and* said to him, "If you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread."

⁶ and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down! For it is written,
'He will command his angels concerning you,'*
and
'On their hands they will lift you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"*

²⁹ And behold, they cried out, saying, "_⌊What do you have to do with us_⌋,* Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"*

¹⁶ And Simon Peter answered and* said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!"

⁵ While* he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

⁶³ But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, "I put you under oath by the living God, that you tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!"

⁴⁰ and saying, "The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it* in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!"

⁴³ He trusts in God; let him deliver him now if he wants to,* because he said, 'I am the Son of God'!"

⁵⁴ Now the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus, when they* saw the earthquake and the things that took place, were extremely frightened, saying, "Truly this man was God's Son!"

¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.*

¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

³⁵ And the angel answered and* said to her,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!"

²³ in order that all people* will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly I say to you that the one who hears my word and who believes the one who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. ²⁵ "Truly, truly I say to you, that an hour is coming—and now is here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and the ones who hear will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, thus also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has granted him authority to carry out judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

⁶⁹ And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

³⁰ The Father and I are one."

³⁶ do you say about he whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

²⁷ She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who comes into the world."

⁷ The Jews replied to him, "We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be the Son of God!"

⁴ who was declared Son of God in power according to _⌊the Holy Spirit_⌋* by the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord,

¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, did not become "yes" and "no," but has become "yes" in him.

¹ Although* God spoke long ago in many parts* and in many ways to the fathers by the prophets, ² in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world,*

⁵ For to which of the angels did he ever say,
"You are my son, today I have begotten you,"*
and again,
"I will be _⌊his father_⌋*, and he will be _⌊my son_⌋*"?* ⁶ And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
"And let all the angels of God worship him."*

²³ Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

⁸ The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil.

¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God resides in him and he in God.

⁹ If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son. ¹⁰ (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.) ¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

⁹ Everyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in the teaching—this person has both the Father and the Son.

¹⁸ "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
"This is what the Son of God says, the one who has his eyes like a fiery flame and his feet like fine bronze:

¹⁶ Then those who revered* Yahweh spoke _⌊with one another_⌋.* And Yahweh listened attentively* and heard, and a scroll of remembrance was written _⌊before him_⌋* of those who revere* Yahweh and ponder his name.

²⁵ So a dispute occurred on the part of John's disciples with a Jew* concerning purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, this one is baptizing, and all are coming to him!"

²² Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none besides me.

¹ "I let myself be sought by those who did not ask; I let myself be found by those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am; here I am!' to a nation that did not call on my name; ² I spread out my hands all day to a stubborn people, those who walk after their thoughts in the way that is not good,

²⁹ On the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb ²⁰ who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has been revealed in these last times for you

²³ Joy belongs to a man with answers in his mouth, and a word in its time, how good it is!

²¹ And the inhabitants of one city will go to another city, saying, "Let us go immediately to entreat _⌊the favor of_⌋* Yahweh, to seek Yahweh of hosts—I also will go!"

⁴³ On the next day he wanted to depart for Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow me!"

³⁹ Now from that town many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything that I have done." ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking* him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word, ⁴² And they were saying to the woman, "No longer because of _⌊what you said_⌋* do we believe, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this one is truly the Savior of the world!"

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

²⁹ _⌊No rotten word must proceed_⌋* from your mouth, but only something good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to those who hear,

¹⁷ And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And the one who hears, let him say, "Come!" And the one who is thirsty, let him come. The one who wants, let him take the water of life freely.*

¹⁶ But Ruth said, "_⌊Do not urge_⌋* me to leave you or to return from _⌊following you_⌋!* For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.

⁸ Happy are your men and happy are these your servants who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom.

⁴ One thing I have asked from Yahweh; it I will seek: that I may dwell in the house* of Yahweh all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Yahweh, and to consider* his temple.

¹⁸ She is a tree of life for those who seize her; those who take hold of her are considered happy.

³⁴ Happy is the person who listens to me, in order to keep watch at my doors day by day, in order to guard the frames of my entrances.

²⁰ Walk with the wise and be wise, but as for the companion of fools, he will suffer harm.

⁷ Tell me, you whom my _⌊heart_⌋* loves, where do you pasture your flock, where do your sheep lie down at the noon? _⌊For why should I be like_⌋* one who is veiled* beside the flocks of your companions? ⁸ If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow _⌊the tracks_⌋* of the flock, and pasture your little lambs* beside the tents of the shepherds.

⁷ and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by people. ⁸ But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' because one is your teacher, and you are all brothers,

²⁴ And when* the messengers of John had departed, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are in splendid clothing and luxury are in the royal palaces. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and even more than a prophet! ²⁷ It is this man about whom it is written:
'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'*

³⁸ And the man from who the demons had gone out was begging him to stay with him, but he sent him away, saying,

³⁹ And _⌊she had_⌋* a sister named Mary, who also sat at the feet of Jesus* and* was listening to his teaching.

²⁵ Now large crowds were going along with him, and he turned around and* said to them,

²⁰ And he set out and* came to his own father. But while* he was still a long way away, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran _⌊and embraced him_⌋* and kissed him.

⁴⁰ So Jesus stopped and* ordered him to be brought to him. And when* he approached, he asked him, ⁴¹ "What do you want me to do for you?" And he said, "Lord, that I may regain my sight.

⁵ And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up and* said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because it is necessary for me to stay at your house today!"

⁶¹ And the Lord turned around and* looked intently at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord,* how he said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times."

² This man came to him at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are* a teacher who has come from God, for no one is able to perform these signs that you are performing unless God were with him."

²⁵ And when they* found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

²¹ So these approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and began asking him saying, "Sir, we want to see Jesus."

⁴ Then Jesus, because he* knew all the things that were coming upon him, went out and said to them, "Who are you looking for?"

⁷ Then he asked them again, "Who are you looking for?" And they said, "Jesus the Nazarene."

¹⁵ Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?" She thought that it was the gardener, and* said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him." ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned around and* said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni" (which means "Teacher").

²¹ So Peter went down to the men and* said, "Behold, I am he whom you are looking for! What is the reason for which you have come?"

²⁹ Therefore—and without raising any objection—I came when I* was sent for. So I ask for what reason you sent for me."

¹⁷ I love _⌊those who love me_⌋,* and those who seek me diligently shall find me.

²⁸ Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to carry and my burden is light."

²⁹ And they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is getting toward evening, and by this time the day is far spent." And he went in to stay with them.

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see!"

⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking* him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days.

³⁷ Everyone whom the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never throw out,

²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, why* is it that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" ²³ Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and _⌊will take up residence with him_⌋.*

³⁰ So he stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and welcomed all who came to him, ³¹ proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, indeed I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.

¹⁸ Now as he* was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing a casting net into the sea (for they were fishermen). ¹⁹ And he said to them, "_⌊Follow me_⌋* and I will make you fishers of people." ²⁰ And immediately they left their nets and* followed him. ²¹ And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² And immediately they left the boat and their father and* followed him.

² Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James* the son of Zebedee, and John his brother,

¹⁶ And as he* was passing by along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting a net* into the sea (for they were fishermen). ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, "_⌊Follow_⌋* me and I will make you become fishers of people." ¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and* followed him. ¹⁹ And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, and they were in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰ And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and* went away after him.

² and he saw two boats there beside the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and* were washing their nets. ³ And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and* asked him to put out from the land a little. And he sat down and* began to teach* the crowds from the boat. ⁴ And when he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." ⁵ And Simon answered and* said, "Master, although we* worked hard through the whole night, we caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets." ⁶ And when they* did this, they caught a very large number of fish, and their nets began to tear.* ⁷ And they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and* help them, and they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. ⁸ And when he* saw it,* Simon Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, Lord, because I am _⌊a sinful man_⌋!"* ⁹ For amazement had seized him and all those who were with him at the catch of fish that they had caught, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were business partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid! From now on you will be catching people!" ¹¹ And after they* brought their* boats to the land, they left everything and* followed him.

⁴⁰ Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. ⁴¹ This one first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah!" (which is translated "Christ"). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Looking at him, Jesus said, "You are Simon the son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which is interpreted "Peter").

⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,

¹³ And when they had entered, they went up to the upstairs room where they were staying—Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James.

⁹ Then they said _⌊to one another_⌋,* "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news! If we are silent and wait until the light of morning, they will find us and _⌊we will be punished_⌋.* So then, come, let us go and tell the house of the king."

² The kings of the earth establish themselves, and the rulers conspire* together against Yahweh and his anointed:

⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you from among your companions with festive oil.

²⁰ I have found David, my servant. With my holy oil I have anointed him,

³ many peoples shall come. And they shall say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house* of the God of Jacob, and may he teach us part of his ways, and let us walk in his paths." For instruction shall go out from Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. ⁴ He shall judge between the nations and he shall arbitrate for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation shall not lift up a sword against a nation, and they shall not learn war again. ⁵ House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.

² And the spirit of Yahweh shall rest on him— a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.

¹ The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up _⌊the brokenhearted_⌋,* to _⌊proclaim_⌋* release to the captives and liberation to those who are bound,

¹⁷ And when they* saw it,* they made known the statement that had been told to them about this child.

³⁸ And at that same hour she approached and* began to give thanks* to God, and to speak about him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

¹⁸ "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."* ²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and* gave it* back to the attendant and* sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were looking intently at him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

³⁶ and looking at Jesus as he* was walking by, he said, "Look! The Lamb of God!" ³⁷ And the two disciples heard him speaking, and they followed Jesus.

⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets wrote about—Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth!"

²⁵ The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (the one called Christ); "whenever that one comes, he will proclaim all things to us."

²⁸ So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people,* ²⁹ "Come, see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Perhaps this one is the Christ?"

²⁷ For in truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed,

³⁸ Jesus of Nazareth—how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

³² And we proclaim the good news to you: that the promise that was made to the fathers, ³³ this promise* God has fulfilled to our children* by* raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm,
'You are my Son; today I have fathered you.'*

⁸ but concerning the Son,
"Your throne, O God, is _⌊forever and ever_⌋*, and the scepter of righteous is the scepter of your kingdom. ⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; because of this God, your God, has anointed you with the olive oil of joy more than your companions.*

³ what we have seen and heard, we announce to you also, in order that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and* said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this* to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it!

¹⁶ And he appointed the twelve.* And to Simon he gave the name Peter,

⁸ And when he* saw it,* Simon Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, Lord, because I am _⌊a sinful man_⌋!"*

¹⁴ Simon (whom he also named Peter) and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew,

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, "Look! _⌊A true Israelite_⌋* in whom is no deceit!" ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, "From where do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you* were under the fig tree, I saw you."

²⁴ But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people,* ²⁵ and because he did not _⌊need_⌋* anyone _⌊to testify_⌋* about man, for he himself knew what was in man.*

⁷⁰ Jesus replied to them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is the devil?" ⁷¹ (Now he was speaking about Judas son of Simon Iscariot, because this one—one of the twelve—was going to betray him.)

¹⁸ "I am not speaking about all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but in order that the scripture would be fulfilled, 'The one who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'*

² Simon Peter and Thomas (who was called Didymus)* and Nathanael from Cana in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples were together.

¹⁵ Now when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs!" ¹⁶ He said to him again a second time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Shepherd my sheep!" ¹⁷ He said to him a third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed because he said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything! You know that I love you!" Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep!

¹² But I say this, that each of you is saying, "I am with Paul," and "I am with Apollos," and "I am with Cephas," and "I am with Christ."

²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things are yours,

⁵ Do we not have the right to take along a sister as wife, like the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve,

⁹ and when James and Cephas and John—those thought to be pillars—acknowledged the grace given to me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, in order that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcision.

¹ "I let myself be sought by those who did not ask; I let myself be found by those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am; here I am!' to a nation that did not call on my name;

¹⁸ Now as he* was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing a casting net into the sea (for they were fishermen). ¹⁹ And he said to them, "_⌊Follow me_⌋* and I will make you fishers of people." ²⁰ And immediately they left their nets and* followed him. ²¹ And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.

⁹ And as* Jesus was going away from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and said to him, "Follow me!" And he stood up and* followed him.

³ Philip, and Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus,

¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost."

²⁸ These things took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

³⁵ On the next day again John was standing there,* and two of his disciples,

⁵ _⌊Then Jesus, when he looked up_⌋* * and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread so that these people can eat?"

⁷ Philip replied to him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for them, in order that each one could receive a little."

⁸ Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."

¹² Not that I have already received this,* or have already been made perfect, but I press on if indeed I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ.*

¹⁹ We love, because he first loved us.

²¹ "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁸ and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,*

⁴⁵ And immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself dismissed the crowd.

²² And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought to him a blind man and implored him that he would touch him.

¹⁰ And when they* returned, the apostles described to him all that they had done. And he took them along and* withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida.

¹³ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes!

⁸ Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." ⁹ Jesus said to him, "Am I with you so long a time and you have not known me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, 'Show us the Father?'

¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations.

¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet for them _⌊from among their countrymen_⌋* like you, and I will place* my words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them _⌊everything that I command him_⌋.* ¹⁹ _⌊And then_⌋* the man that will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will hold accountable. ²⁰ However, the prophet that behaves presumptuously by speaking a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet shall die.' ²¹ And if you say _⌊to yourself_⌋,* 'How can we know the word that Yahweh has not spoken to him?' ²² Whenever what the prophet spoke in the name of Yahweh, the thing does not take place and does not come about, that is the thing that Yahweh has not spoken to him.* Presumptuously the prophet spoke it; you shall not fear that* prophet."

² On that day the branch of Yahweh shall become beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall become the pride and glory of the survivors* of Israel.

¹² And say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, here is a man whose name is Branch,* and from his place he will sprout, and he will build the temple of Yahweh.

⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king comes to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a male donkey, _⌊the foal of_⌋* a female donkey!

²³ And he came and* lived in a town called Nazareth, in order that what was said by the prophets would be fulfilled:* "He will be called a Nazarene."

⁵⁵ Is not this one the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

¹¹ And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee!"

³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they were offended by him.

⁶⁷ And when* she saw Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and* said, "You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus."

⁴ So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David,

²³ And Jesus, when he* began his ministry,* was himself about thirty years old, being the son (as it was believed) of Joseph the son of Eli,

²² And they were all speaking well of him, and were astonished at the gracious words that were coming out of his mouth. And they were saying, "Is this man not the son of Joseph?"

²⁷ And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

⁴⁴ And he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I* was still with you, that everything that is written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see!"

⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father! The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope! ⁴⁶ For if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, for that one wrote about me.

⁴² and they were saying, "Is this one not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

⁵ They replied to him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, "I am he."* (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was also standing with them.)

¹⁹ And Pilate also wrote a notice and placed it* on the cross, and it was written: "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews."

²² "Israelite men, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—

⁶ But Peter said, "Silver and gold _⌊I do not possess_⌋,* but what I have, this I give to you—in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!"*

⁸ And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene whom you are persecuting.'

⁹ Indeed, I myself thought it was necessary to do many things opposed to the name of Jesus the Nazarene,

²⁸ And all those in the synagogue were filled with anger when they* heard these things. ²⁹ And they stood up and* forced him out of the town and brought him up to the edge of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.

⁵⁷ And why do you not also judge for yourselves what is right?

²⁹ "Come, see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Perhaps this one is the Christ?"

⁴¹ Others were saying, "This man is the Christ!" But others were saying, "No, for the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he?* ⁴² Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"

⁵² They answered and said to him, "You are not also from Galilee, are you?* Investigate and see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee!"