Philippians 3 Cross References - MSB

¹ Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. ² Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh! ³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. ⁷ But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view. And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well. ¹⁶ Nevertheless, we must live up to the standard we have already attained, being of the same mind. ¹⁷ Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you. ¹⁸ For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

¹⁸ Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,

¹¹ and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

¹ At that time Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD in whom my horn is exalted. My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, for I rejoice in Your salvation.

²⁸ So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and with cymbals and the music of harps and lyres.

¹⁰ Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice. Let them say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns!’ ³² Let the sea resound, and all that fills it; let the fields exult, and all that is in them. ³³ Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth.

²² That day they ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD. Then, for a second time, they designated David’s son Solomon as king, anointing him before the LORD as ruler, and Zadok as the priest.

²⁶ So there was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this had happened there since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel. ²⁷ Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.

¹⁰ Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

²⁶ Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

¹¹ But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever shout for joy. May You shelter them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.

¹¹ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

⁴ These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.

¹ The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the distant shores be glad.

¹ A Psalm of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. ² Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs.

² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.” ³ With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,

¹⁶ You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.

¹¹ so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious abundance. ¹² For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees.

²³ Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸ yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

¹⁴ Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!

¹⁷ The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”

⁷ Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD.

¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

¹¹ Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

¹¹ Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹⁰ Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

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

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.

¹ Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. So you should do so all the more.

¹⁶ Rejoice at all times.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials ⁷ so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, honor, and glory, at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not known Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

⁸ Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and courteous.

¹³ But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.

¹² Therefore I will not neglect to remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. ¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, ¹⁴ because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times.

¹ Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking

¹⁶ For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.

²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.

¹¹⁵ Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may obey the commandments of my God.

¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

¹⁰ Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber. ¹¹ Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

⁶ Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,

²⁸ A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.

¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

³ Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴ This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.

¹ In the freedom with which Christ has set us free, stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. ² Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

¹³ For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

¹⁵ But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

¹⁹ holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith.

¹ But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, ⁴ traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! ⁶ They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,

³ For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. ⁴ So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. May the Lord repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ You too should beware of him, for he has vigorously opposed our message.

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

¹⁸ With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. ²⁰ If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.

²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

⁴ For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny God our only Master and the Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. ¹² These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted. ¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

⁹ I know your works and your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

⁹ Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

⁸ But to the cowardly and unbelieving and sinful and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

¹⁵ But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

⁵ No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.” ⁹ God also said to Abraham, “You must keep My covenant—you and your descendants in the generations after you. ¹⁰ This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹ You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

¹⁶ Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

⁶ The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

³ Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

²⁵ In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

⁴ Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”

²³ This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. ²⁴ But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.

²⁶ Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

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

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

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

²⁵ Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. ²⁸ A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. ²⁹ No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹² And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

⁶ But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. ²⁷ And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

¹⁷ Therefore I exult in Christ Jesus in my service to God.

²⁹ so that no one may boast in His presence. ³⁰ It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

¹³ For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. ¹⁴ But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

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

⁴ though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless. ⁷ But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

¹¹ In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and forever enduring word of God. ²⁴ For, “All flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

²⁰ But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

¹⁸ Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast. ¹⁹ For you gladly tolerate fools, since you are so wise. ²⁰ In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face. ²¹ To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

¹³ Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.

¹² Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner—even those who are not your offspring.

¹⁵ For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”

¹² Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us individually.

⁶ On hearing the noise of the shout, the Philistines asked, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” And when they realized that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp,

⁹ “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him after his father Zechariah.

²¹ When the eight days until His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.

²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.) ²³ If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”

¹ In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

³ “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today.

⁶ Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”

⁴ Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from the earliest days of my youth, among my own people in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.

¹ I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

² At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)

¹⁶ saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride in his chariot.

²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

²⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and unrighteousness.

²⁰ “Teacher,” he replied, “all these I have kept from my youth.” ²¹ Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest ² and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” ⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” replied the Lord. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” ⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the voice but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was without sight, and he did not eat or drink anything. ¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Here I am, Lord,” he answered. ¹¹ “Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.” ¹⁵ “Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” ¹⁷ So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

²⁰ When they heard this, they glorified the Lord. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

³ “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today. ⁴ I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,

⁵ They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.

⁹ So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

⁹ Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

³¹ but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. ³² Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works of the law. For they stumbled over the stumbling stone,

² For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. ³ Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes. ⁵ For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹³ For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

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

¹³ I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.

¹⁷ As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

⁴ “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.

⁸ Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.

²³ Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

⁴⁴ Again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field. ⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.

²⁶ What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

³³ In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

⁸ The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

³¹ On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. ³² Remember Lot’s wife! ³³ Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.

¹⁸ We were tossed so violently that the next day the men began to jettison the cargo. ¹⁹ On the third day, we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.

³⁸ After the men had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

¹⁵ We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile “sinners” ¹⁶ know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

² Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness.

⁴ though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,

³⁰ Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

¹⁰ Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!

³⁷ And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”

⁷ he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’

⁶ He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

¹¹ After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.

³ Behold, I will rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the waste from your feasts, and you will be carried off with it.

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight. ²⁷ All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.

²⁷ “Look,” Peter replied, “we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?” ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

⁴³ And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

²¹ At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.” ²² And turning to the disciples, He said, “All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

²⁰ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand ⁴³ until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ ⁴⁴ Thus David calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?”

⁷ If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”

²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.

³ They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.

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

⁸ For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

¹³ “Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked. “Because they have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I do not know where they have put Him.”

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

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

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.

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

⁹ For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. ¹¹ To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

¹⁰ Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.

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

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in worse beatings, in more imprisonments, in frequent danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. ²⁶ In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, ²⁷ in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

⁸ Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and depth and height ¹⁹ of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

⁷ But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,

² that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.

⁷ To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who are disobedient, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

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

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.

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

²³ And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed—man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained.

³ You are to build roads for yourselves and divide into three regions the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that any manslayer can flee to these cities. ⁴ Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees to one of these cities to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him:

²⁶ ‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

⁴⁶ When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,

²⁵ But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

³¹ And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.

²⁸ I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me. ²⁹ Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain? ³⁰ If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, ³¹ then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.

¹⁴ If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity. ¹⁵ If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.

¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? ¹⁵ If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes, ¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

⁵ My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. ⁶ Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

³ All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

¹² Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

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

³ If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand? ⁴ But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

² Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

²⁰ Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

⁵ Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

²⁴ Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame. ²⁵ In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

¹³ I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor.

⁶ We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

⁵ You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? ⁶ Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

⁶ In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

²⁴ Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

²⁵ One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” ²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” ²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.” ²⁹ But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

⁸ And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; ¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.

¹⁷ For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin. ²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. ²² And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and upon all who believe. There is no distinction,

⁵ However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶ And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

¹³ For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. For where there is no law, there is no transgression.

²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

⁵ For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death. ⁶ But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. ⁷ What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ⁸ But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead. ⁹ Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death. ¹¹ For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death. ¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. ¹³ Has that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹ Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

³ For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,

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

¹ Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. ² For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. ³ Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes. ⁵ For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down)

¹⁰ For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

³⁰ It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

¹⁷ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, all things have become new!

²¹ For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

¹⁶ know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁰ All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” ¹¹ Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” ¹² The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

²¹ Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law. ²² But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.

⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

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

⁵ He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

² We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

¹⁹ in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison ²⁰ who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

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

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

⁴ Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.

²³ “You will indeed drink My cup and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”

²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. ²² Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. ²⁷ And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

¹⁸ No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. ²⁶ And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

³¹ Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay. ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses. ³³ Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand ³⁵ until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ ³⁶ Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!” ³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

³ Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. ⁷ For anyone who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

¹⁷ And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

²⁹ For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.

⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

¹⁰ He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He continues to deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,

¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of the Lord Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. ¹³ And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,

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

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, ²⁰ which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

¹³ When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,

¹ Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. ¹⁵ By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.

¹¹ This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; ¹² if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us;

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin. ² Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.

¹³ But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Indeed, on their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

³ By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.

⁵ But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:

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

⁷ No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

³⁵ But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. ³⁶ In fact, they can no longer die, because they are like the angels. And since they are sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.

²⁴ Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

⁷ the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king Agrippa, that I am accused by the Jews.

¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to sail on, if somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete facing both southwest and northwest.

¹⁴ in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.

²² To the weak I became like one who is weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

²⁷ No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

³ I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ.

⁵ For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and caused our labor to be in vain.

³ Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of sin—the son of destruction—is revealed.

³⁵ Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

⁵ The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection.

⁹ Yet a righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger.

¹ For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.

¹ A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water. ² So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory. ³ Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

⁸ My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

² My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

¹⁵ Surely judgment will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

² The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” ³ Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.

⁵ Oh, that my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes!

¹⁷³ May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts. ¹⁷⁴ I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight. ¹⁷⁵ Let me live to praise You; may Your judgments sustain me. ¹⁷⁶ I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.

⁸ The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.

¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹ “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were hewn.

³ So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.

³ As Saul drew near to Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” ⁵ “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” replied the Lord. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

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

¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. ²⁰ And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. ²¹ So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. ²³ But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.

¹ Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

⁹ In fact, we rejoice when we are weak but you are strong, and our prayer is for your perfection.

¹⁷ For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.

⁴ For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

¹² to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ Nevertheless, we must live up to the standard we have already attained, being of the same mind.

¹⁵ Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.

¹³ But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.

¹⁰ and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

¹⁹ treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of eternal life.

¹⁴ Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

²³ in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

²¹ equip you with every good work to do His will. And may He accomplish in you what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹¹ He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. ¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” ¹³ Who can harm you if you are imitators of what is good?

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

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.

¹⁰ Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house,

⁶² Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

⁴² But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

²³ But now that there are no further opportunities for me in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to visit you, ²⁴ I hope to come to see you on my way to Spain. And after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can equip me for my journey. ²⁵ Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. ²⁶ For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. ²⁷ They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to minister to them with material blessings. ²⁸ So after I have completed this service and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set off to Spain by way of you. ²⁹ I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. ²⁷ No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

¹⁸ What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance. ²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

¹² Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

¹¹ I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. ¹² I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

¹ Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God,

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

⁸ Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

¹⁶ The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

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

²³ What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— ²⁴ including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.

¹⁷ For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

¹² encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. ¹³ But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth. ¹⁴ To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

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

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

¹³ Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

²¹ To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

⁸ Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way. ⁹ He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.

³ if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, ⁴ if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure, ⁵ then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God. ⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

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

⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your Father in heaven is perfect.

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

¹⁷ If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

¹ We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

⁶ Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

²⁰ Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus.

¹² Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and complete in the full will of God.

¹⁷ so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

⁴ Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

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

⁵ Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you harmony with one another in Christ Jesus,

⁷ You were running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth?

¹⁶ Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

² and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God. ³ But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed. ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵ For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them. ⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

²⁷ Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,

² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.

² I urge Euodia and Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.

⁶ Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,

³⁸ But the righteous will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.” ³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

¹⁰ Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings. ¹¹ Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord. ¹² These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they will be destroyed. ¹³ They will receive the wages is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. ¹⁴ Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. ¹⁷ These men are springs without water and clouds driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is forever reserved for them.

⁴ But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. ⁵ Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place.

³ Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

³⁷ Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.

¹⁷ Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.

¹⁶ Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

³² Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—

⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless our conduct was among you who believed. ¹¹ For you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children— ¹² encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. ¹³ And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as the true word of God—the word which is now at work in you who believe. ¹⁴ For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews,

⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,

⁹ Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate.

¹⁴ Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

¹² Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

⁷ Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

¹¹ For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:

¹ Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.

¹⁷ But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

⁴¹ As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it

¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with many tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.

³⁰ Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

² I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

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

⁴ For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.

²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?

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

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.

²¹ envy, and murder; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

¹² Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ.

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the other Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

⁵ For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

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

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.

⁶ and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.

¹¹ Yet we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives and accomplishing nothing but being busybodies.

¹⁰ Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.

¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹² Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD ¹³ or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling ¹⁴ and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵ Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” ¹⁶ And if any man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you may take whatever you want,” the servant would reply, “No, you must give it to me right now. If you refuse, I will take it by force!”

²⁹ Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

⁶ Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD. ⁷ You have filled my heart with more joy than when grain and new wine abound.

¹⁴ from such men, O LORD, by Your hand—from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.

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

¹⁰ Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber. ¹¹ Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain: ¹² “Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”

¹⁹ You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

³ You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.

⁷ The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.

⁵ This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:

¹¹ Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

¹⁵ Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness! ¹⁶ You will be filled with shame instead of glory. You too must drink and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.

¹² “But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’

²³ But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

⁴¹ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

⁴⁵ But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk. ⁴⁶ The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

¹⁹ Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

⁴ For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect men,

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

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

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

³ for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension and division among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

² And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?

¹² But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.

¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

¹³ For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

²¹ For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.

¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

⁵ and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.

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

¹¹ who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not. ¹² As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

⁶ and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame. ⁷ For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God. ⁸ But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.

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

¹ Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

³ In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction will not sleep.

¹³ They will receive the wages is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

¹⁷ These men are springs without water and clouds driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is forever reserved for them. ¹⁸ With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

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

⁷ As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’

²⁰ But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

⁹ And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them. ¹⁰ And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

¹⁵ As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.

²⁴ You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory. ²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. ²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁴ The path of life leads upward for the wise, that he may avoid going down to Sheol.

¹ In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts. ² Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter—one that remains faithful.

¹⁹ Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²¹ Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

²¹ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

³² Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

⁸ We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is the mother of us all.

⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

¹⁹ Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

¹⁰ so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

⁵ the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel

¹ Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

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

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise.

⁷ and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels ⁸ in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

⁸ From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

¹³ as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

²⁸ so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

³⁴ You sympathized with me in my chains and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession in heaven. ³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.

²² Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels

¹² as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

⁷ Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.

¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the great holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal. ¹² The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ¹⁵ The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶ The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height. ¹⁷ And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using. ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. ²² But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁵ Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there. ²⁶ And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations. ²⁷ But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

⁸ He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.

¹⁹ Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

² There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

²⁹ Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

²⁴ Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him. ²⁸ And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.

⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body; there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also let us bear the likeness of the heavenly man. ⁵⁰ Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “Where, O Death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, ²⁰ which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,

⁴ When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

² Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.

¹³ and among the seven lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe, with a golden sash around His chest. ¹⁴ The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶ He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. ¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, ¹⁸ the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever. Amen. And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades. ¹⁹ Therefore write down the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that will happen after this. ²⁰ This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.