Matthew 23 Cross References - Moffatt

¹ Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. ² "The scribes and Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses; ³ so do whatever they tell you, obey them, but do not do as they do. They talk but they do not act. ⁴ They make up heavy loads and lay them on men's shoulders, but they will not stir a finger to remove them. ⁵ Besides, all they do is done to catch the notice of men; they make their phylacteries broad, they wear large tassels, ⁶ they are fond of the best places at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they like to be saluted in the marketplaces and to be called 'rabbi' by men. ⁸ But you are not to be called 'rabbi,' for One is your teacher, and you are all brothers; ⁹ you are not to call anyone 'father' on earth, for One is your heavenly Father; ¹⁰ nor must you be called 'leaders,' for One is your leader, even the Christ. ¹¹ He who is greatest among you must be your servant. ¹² Whoever uplifts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be uplifted. ¹³ Woe to you, you impious scribes and Pharisees! you shut the Realm of heaven in men's faces; you neither enter yourselves, nor will you let those enter who are on the point of entering. ¹⁴ — - ¹⁵ Woe to you, you impious scribes and Pharisees! you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when you succeed you make him a son of Gehenna twice as bad as yourselves. ¹⁶ Woe to you, blind guides that you are! you say, 'Swear by the sanctuary, and it means nothing; but swear by the gold of the sanctuary, and the oath is binding.' ¹⁷ You are senseless and blind! for which is the greater, the gold or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ You say again, 'Swear by the altar, and it means nothing; but swear by the gift upon it, and the oath is binding.' ¹⁹ You are blind! for which is the greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ He who swears by the altar swears by it and by all that lies on it; ²¹ he who swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by Him who inhabits it; ²² he who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. ²³ Woe to you, you impious scribes and Pharisees! you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and omit the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness; these latter you ought to have practised — without omit ting the former. ²⁴ Blind guides that you are, filtering away the gnat and swallowing the camel! ²⁵ Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are filled with your rapacity and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! first clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean as well. ²⁷ Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you are like tombs white-washed; they look comely on the outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all manner of impurity. ²⁸ So to men you seem just, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. ²⁹ Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the tombs of the just, ³⁰ and you say 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' ³¹ So you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are sons of those who killed the prophets! ³² And you will fill up the measure that your fathers filled. ³³ You serpents! you brood of vipers! how can you escape being sentenced to Gehenna? ³⁴ This is why I will send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, some of whom you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town; ³⁵ it is that on you may fall the punishment for all the just blood shed on earth from the blood of Abel the just down to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ I tell you truly, it will all come upon this generation. ³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it! ³⁸ See, your House is left to you, desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will never see me again till you say, Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name."

⁷ But when he noticed a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming Wrath?

³ "Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

¹² rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

¹⁹ Therefore whoever relaxes a single one of these commands, were it even one of the least, and teaches men so, he will be ranked least in the Realm of heaven; but whoever obeys them and teaches them, he will be ranked great in the Realm of heaven.) ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your goodness excels that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the Realm of heaven.

²² whoever maligns his brother must come before the San hedrin, whoever curses his brother must go to the fire of Gehenna.' But I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother [without cause] will be sentenced by God.

²⁹ If your right eye is a hindrance to you, pluck it out and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.

³³ Once again, you have heard how the men of old were told, 'You must not forswear yourself but discharge your vows to the Lord'. ³⁴ But I tell you, you must not swear any oath, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

³⁴ But I tell you, you must not swear any oath, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ nor by earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King;

¹ Take care not to practise your charity before men in order to be noticed; otherwise you get no reward from your Father in heaven. No, ² When you give alms, make no flourish of trumpets like the hypocrites in the synagogues and the streets, so as to win applause from men; I tell you truly, they do get their reward. ³ When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so as to keep your alms secret; then your Father who sees what is secret will reward you openly. ⁵ Also, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they like to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street-corners, so as to be seen by men; I tell you truly, they do get their reward. ⁶ When you pray, go into your room and shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you. ⁷ Do not pray by idle rote like pagans, for they suppose they will be heard the more they say; ⁸ you must not copy them; your Father knows your needs before you ask him.

⁸ you must not copy them; your Father knows your needs before you ask him. ⁹ Let this be how you pray: 'our Father in heaven, thy name be revered,

⁹ Let this be how you pray: 'our Father in heaven, thy name be revered, ¹⁰ thy Reign begin, thy will be done on earth as in heaven! ¹¹ give us to-day our bread for the morrow, ¹² and forgive us our debts as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors, ¹³ and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.' ¹⁴ For if you forgive men their trespasses, then your heavenly Father will forgive you; ¹⁵ but if you do not forgive men, your Father will not forgive your trespasses either. ¹⁶ When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they look woebegone to let men see they are fasting; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

³² (pagans make all that their aim in life) for your heavenly Father knows quite well you need all that.

⁴ How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take out the splinter from your eye,' when there lies the plank in your own eye?

¹¹ Well, if for all your evil you know to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

¹³ Go and learn the meaning of this word, I care for mercy not for sacrifice. For I have not come to call just men but sinners."

²⁰ Now a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel of his robe;

¹⁶ I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise like serpents and guileless like doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men, they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues,

²³ When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; truly I tell you, you will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of man arrives.

²⁵ enough for the scholar to fare like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If men have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they miscall his servants!

²⁴ I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

²⁸ Come to me, all who are labouring and burdened, and I will refresh you. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find your souls refreshed; ³⁰ my yoke is kindly and my burden light."

⁷ Besides, if you had known what this meant, I care for mercy not for sacrifice, you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

³³ Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten; for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For the mouth utters what the heart is full of.

³⁴ You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For the mouth utters what the heart is full of. ³⁵ The good man brings good out of his good store, and the evil man brings evil out of his store of evil.

⁵² So he said to them, "Well then, every scribe who has become a disciple of the Realm of heaven is like a householder who produces what is new and what is old from his stores."

² "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they take their food."

² "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they take their food." ³ He replied, "And why do you transgress the command of God with your traditions?

³ He replied, "And why do you transgress the command of God with your traditions? ⁴ God enjoined, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death.

⁴ God enjoined, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death. ⁵ But you say, whoever tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service but it is dedicated to God,'

⁵ But you say, whoever tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service but it is dedicated to God,' ⁶ need not honour his father or mother. So you have repealed the law of God to suit your own tradition.

⁶ need not honour his father or mother. So you have repealed the law of God to suit your own tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you when he said, ⁸ This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: ⁹ vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts." ¹⁰ Then he called the crowd and said to them, "Listen, understand this: ¹¹ it is not what enters a man's mouth that defiles him, what defiles a man is what comes out of his mouth." ¹² Then the disciples came up and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees have taken offence at what they hear you say?" ¹³ He replied, "Any plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. ¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind, and if one blind man leads another, both of them will fall into a pit."

¹⁴ Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind, and if one blind man leads another, both of them will fall into a pit." ¹⁵ Peter answered, "Explain this parable to us at anyrate." ¹⁶ He said, "And are you totally ignorant? ¹⁷ Do you not see how all that enters the mouth passes into the belly and is then thrown out into the drain, ¹⁸ while what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart — and that is what defiles a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil designs, murder, adultery, sexual vice, stealing, false witness, and slander. ²⁰ That is what defiles a man; a man is not defiled by eating with hands unwashed!"

⁵ He was still speaking when a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, in him is my delight: listen to him."

⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Realm of heaven;

²⁴ I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Realm of God."

²¹ He said to her, "What do you want?" She said, "Give orders that my two sons are to sit at your right hand and at your left in your Realm."

²⁶ not so with you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave;

⁹ And the crowds who went in front of him and who followed behind shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name! Hosanna in high heaven!"

³⁰ The man went to the second and said the same to him; he replied, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and did go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of the father?" They said, "The last." Jesus said to them, "I tell you truly, the taxgatherers and harlots are going into the Realm of God before you. ³² For John showed you the way to be good and you would not believe him; the taxgatherers and harlots believed him, and even though you saw that, you would not change your mind afterwards and believe him.

³⁴ When the fruit-season was near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to collect his fruit; ³⁵ but the vinedressers took his servants and flogged one, killed another, and stoned a third.

³⁵ but the vinedressers took his servants and flogged one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Once more he sent some other servants, more than he had sent at first, and they did the same to them.

³ He sent his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they would not come.

⁶ while the rest seized his servants and ill-treated them and killed them.

³⁷ He replied, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with your whole mind. ³⁸ This is the greatest and chief command. ³⁹ There is a second like it: you must love your neighbour as yourself. ⁴⁰ The whole Law and the prophets hang upon these two commands."

⁵ Besides, all they do is done to catch the notice of men; they make their phylacteries broad, they wear large tassels,

⁸ But you are not to be called 'rabbi,' for One is your teacher, and you are all brothers;

¹⁰ nor must you be called 'leaders,' for One is your leader, even the Christ.

¹³ Woe to you, you impious scribes and Pharisees! you shut the Realm of heaven in men's faces; you neither enter yourselves, nor will you let those enter who are on the point of entering. ¹⁴ — - ¹⁵ Woe to you, you impious scribes and Pharisees! you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when you succeed you make him a son of Gehenna twice as bad as yourselves. ¹⁶ Woe to you, blind guides that you are! you say, 'Swear by the sanctuary, and it means nothing; but swear by the gold of the sanctuary, and the oath is binding.' ¹⁷ You are senseless and blind! for which is the greater, the gold or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred?

¹⁹ You are blind! for which is the greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

²³ Woe to you, you impious scribes and Pharisees! you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and omit the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness; these latter you ought to have practised — without omit ting the former. ²⁴ Blind guides that you are, filtering away the gnat and swallowing the camel! ²⁵ Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are filled with your rapacity and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! first clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean as well. ²⁷ Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you are like tombs white-washed; they look comely on the outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all manner of impurity.

²⁹ Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the tombs of the just, ³⁰ and you say 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'

³³ You serpents! you brood of vipers! how can you escape being sentenced to Gehenna? ³⁴ This is why I will send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, some of whom you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town;

³⁴ This is why I will send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, some of whom you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town; ³⁵ it is that on you may fall the punishment for all the just blood shed on earth from the blood of Abel the just down to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁵ it is that on you may fall the punishment for all the just blood shed on earth from the blood of Abel the just down to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ I tell you truly, it will all come upon this generation.

² but he replied to them, "You see all this? I tell you truly, not a stone here will be left upon another, without being torn down."

³⁴ I tell you truly, the present generation will not pass away till all this happens.

⁴⁹ So he went up at once to Jesus; "Hail, rabbi!" he said, and kissed him.

⁶ The high priests took the money and said, "It would be wrong to put this into the treasury, for it is the price of blood." ⁷ So after consulting they bought with it the Potter's Field, to serve as a burying-place for strangers. ⁸ That is why the field is called to this day "The Field of Blood."

¹⁹ go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teach them to obey all the commands I have laid on you. And I will be with you all the time, to the very end of the world."

⁴ they decline to eat what comes from the market till they have washed it; and they have a number of other traditions to keep about washing cups and jugs and basins [and beds].) ⁵ Then the Pharisees and scribes put this question to him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? Why do they take their food with 'common' hands?" ⁶ He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites — as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: ⁷ vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts. ⁸ You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition. ⁹ Yes, forsooth," he added, "you set aside what God commands, so as to maintain your own tradition. ¹⁰ Thus, Moses said, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death. ¹¹ But you say that if a man tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service, but it is Korban' (that is, dedicated to God), ¹² he is exempt, so you hold, from doing anything for his father or mother. ¹³ That is repealing the word of God in the interests of the tradition which you keep up. And you do many things like that." ¹⁴ Then he called the crowd to him again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand this:

²¹ From within, from the heart of man, the designs of evil come: sexual vice, stealing, murder, ²² adultery, lust, malice, deceit, sensuality, envying, slander, arrogance, recklessness, ²³ all these evils issue from within and they defile a man."

⁵ So Peter addressed Jesus, saying, "Rabbi, it is a good thing we are here; let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"

⁴³ not so with you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever of you wants to be first must be your slave;

⁵¹ Jesus spoke to him and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "Rabboni, I want to regain my sight."

³ but they took and flogged him and sent him off with nothing. ⁴ Once more he sent them another servant; him they knocked on the head and insulted. ⁵ He sent another, but they killed him. And so they treated many others; some they flogged and some they killed. ⁶ He had still one left, a beloved son; he sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

³⁸ And in the course of his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes! They like to walk about in long robes, to get saluted in the marketplaces,

³⁸ And in the course of his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes! They like to walk about in long robes, to get saluted in the marketplaces, ³⁹ to secure the front seats in the synagogues and the best places at banquets; ⁴⁰ they prey upon the property of widows and offer long unreal prayers. All the heavier will their sentence be!"

¹⁴ But whenever you see the appalling Horror standing where he has no right to stand (let the reader note this), then let those who are in Judaea fly to the hills;

³⁰ I tell you truly, the present generation will not pass away till all this happens. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words never.

⁵¹ He has done a deed of might with his arm, he has scattered the proud with their purposes, ⁵² princes he has dethroned and the poor he has uplifted,

²⁶ indeed it had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he was not to see death before he had seen the Lord messiah. ²⁷ By an inspiration of the Spirit he came to the temple, and when the parents of the child Jesus carried him in to perform the customary regulations of the law for him, ²⁸ then Symeon took him in his arms, blessed God, and said, ²⁹ "Now, Master, thou canst let thy servant go, and go in peace, as thou didst promise; ³⁰ for mine eyes have seen thy saving power

⁷ To the crowds who came out to get baptized by him John said, "You brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming Wrath?

⁷ and the scribes and Pharisees watched to see if he would heal on the sabbath, so as to discover some charge against him. ⁸ He knew what was in their minds; so he told the man with the withered hand, "Rise and stand forward." He rose and stood before them. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it right on the sabbath to help or to hurt, to save life or to kill?" ¹⁰ And glancing round at them all in anger he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was quite restored.

⁴⁵ The good man produces good from the good stored in his heart, and the evil man evil from his evil: for a man's mouth utters what his heart is full of.

²² "All has been handed over to me by my Father: and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." ²³ Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

³⁹ but the Lord said to him, "You Pharisees do clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but your inner life is filled with rapacity and malice. ⁴⁰ Foolish men! did not He who made the outside make the inside of things too?

⁴² But woe to you Pharisees! you tithe mint and rue and every vegetable, but justice and the love of God you disregard; these latter you ought to have practised — without omitting the former. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! you love the front bench in the synagogues and salutations in the marketplaces.

⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! you love the front bench in the synagogues and salutations in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ Woe to you! you are like unsuspected tombs; men walk over them unawares."

⁴⁴ Woe to you! you are like unsuspected tombs; men walk over them unawares."

⁴⁴ Woe to you! you are like unsuspected tombs; men walk over them unawares." ⁴⁵ One of the jurists said to him, "Teacher, when you say this you are insulting us as well." ⁴⁶ He said, "And woe to you jurists! you load men with irksome burdens, and you will not put a single finger to their burdens.

⁴⁶ He said, "And woe to you jurists! you load men with irksome burdens, and you will not put a single finger to their burdens. ⁴⁷ Woe to you! you build tombs for the prophets whom your own fathers killed:

⁴⁷ Woe to you! you build tombs for the prophets whom your own fathers killed: ⁴⁸ thus you testify and consent to what your fathers did, for they killed and you build.

⁴⁸ thus you testify and consent to what your fathers did, for they killed and you build. ⁴⁹ This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some they will kill and some they will persecute';

⁴⁹ This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some they will kill and some they will persecute'; ⁵⁰ it was that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world might be charged upon this generation,

⁵⁰ it was that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world might be charged upon this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah who was slain between the altar and the House of God — yes, I tell you, it will all be charged upon this generation.

⁵¹ from the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah who was slain between the altar and the House of God — yes, I tell you, it will all be charged upon this generation.

⁵¹ from the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah who was slain between the altar and the House of God — yes, I tell you, it will all be charged upon this generation. ⁵² Woe to you jurists! you have taken the key that unlocks the door of knowledge; you have not entered yourselves, and you have stopped those who were entering."

⁵² Woe to you jurists! you have taken the key that unlocks the door of knowledge; you have not entered yourselves, and you have stopped those who were entering." ⁵³ After he had gone away, the scribes and Pharisees commenced to follow him up closely and cross-question him on many points, ⁵⁴ lying in ambush to catch a word from his lips.

¹ Meanwhile as the crowd was gathering in its thousands till they trod on one another, he proceeded to say to his disciples first of all, "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy,

⁴⁸ whereas he who was ignorant and did what deserves a beating, will receive few lashes. He who has much given him will have much required from him, and he who has much entrusted to him will have all the more demanded of him.

⁵⁷ And why do you not yourselves settle what is right?

³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it! ³⁵ See, your House is left to yourselves. I tell you, you will never see me till the day comes when you say, Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name."

³⁵ See, your House is left to yourselves. I tell you, you will never see me till the day comes when you say, Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name."

⁷ He also told a parable to the guests, when he observed how they picked out the best places. ⁸ "When anyone invites you to a marriage-banquet," he said, "never lie down in the best place, in case a more distinguished guest than yourself has been invited; ⁹ then the host will tell you, 'Make room for him,' and you will proceed in shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ No, when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when your host comes in he will tell you, 'Move higher up, my friend.' Then you will be honoured before your fellow guests. ¹¹ For everyone who uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

¹¹ For everyone who uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

¹⁷ At the hour for supper he sent his servant to tell the guests, 'Come, things are all ready.' ¹⁸ But they all alike proceeded to decline. The first said to him, 'I have bought a farm and I am obliged to go and look at it. Pray consider me excused.' ¹⁹ The second said, 'I have bought five pair of oxen and I am going to try them. Pray consider me excused.' ²⁰ Another said, 'I have married a wife; that is why I cannot come.'

²⁸ This angered him, and he would not go in. His father came out and tried to appease him,

¹⁵ So he told them, "You are the people who get men to think you are good, but God knows what your hearts are! What is lofty in the view of man is loathsome in the eyes of God.

²² To his disciples he said, "There will come days when you will long and long in vain to have even one day of the Son of man.

¹² Twice a week I fast; on all my income I pay tithes.'

¹⁴ I tell you, he went home accepted by God rather than the other man; for everyone who uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

¹⁴ Now his people hated him and sent envoys after him to say, 'We object to him having royal power over us.' ¹⁵ However he secured the royal power and came home. Then he ordered the servants to be called who had been given the money, that he might find out what business they had done. ¹⁶ The first came up saying, 'Your five pounds has made other fifty, sir.' ¹⁷ 'Capital,' he said, 'you excellent servant! because you have proved trustworthy in a trifle, you are placed over ten towns.' ¹⁸ Then the second came and said, 'Your five pounds has made twenty-five, sir.' ¹⁹ To him he said, 'And you are set over five towns.' ²⁰ Then the next came and said, 'Here is your five pounds, sir; I kept it safe in a napkin, ²¹ for I was afraid of you, you are such a hard man — picking up what you never put down, and reaping what you never sowed.' ²² He replied, 'You rascal of a servant, I will convict you by what you have said yourself. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, picking up what I never put down, and reaping what I never sowed!

²² He replied, 'You rascal of a servant, I will convict you by what you have said yourself. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, picking up what I never put down, and reaping what I never sowed! ²³ Why then did you not put my money into the bank, so that I could have got it with interest when I came back?' ²⁴ Then he said to the bystanders, 'Take the five pounds from him and give it to the man with fifty.' ²⁵ 'Sir,' they said, 'he has fifty already!' ²⁶ 'I tell you, to everyone who has shall more be given, but from him who has nothing, even what he has shall be taken. ²⁷ And now for these enemies of mine who objected to me reigning over them — bring them here and slay them in my presence.' " ²⁸ With these words he went forward on his way up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ When he was near Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Olive-Orchard, he despatched two of his disciples, ³⁰ saying, "Go to the village in front, and on entering it you will find a colt tethered on which no one ever has sat; untether it and bring it. ³¹ If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untethering it?' this is what you will say, 'The Lord needs it.'" ³² The messengers went off and found the colt exactly as he had told them. ³³ As they were untethering it, the owners said to them, "Why are you untethering the colt?" ³⁴ And they said, "Because the Lord needs it." ³⁵ So they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their clothes on the colt they mounted Jesus upon it. ³⁶ As he went forward they spread their clothes under him on the road; ³⁷ and as he was now close to the descent from the Hill of Olives, all the multitude of the disciples started joyfully to praise God with a loud voice for all they had seen, ³⁸ saying, "Blessed be the king who comes in the Lord's name! Peace in heaven and glory in the High places!" ³⁹ Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Check your disciples, teacher." ⁴⁰ But he replied, "I tell you, if they were to keep quiet, the very stones would shout." ⁴¹ And when he saw the city, as he approached, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, "Would that you too knew even to-day on what your peace depends! But no, it is hidden from you! ⁴³ A time is coming for you when your enemies will throw up ramparts round you and encircle you and besiege you on every side ⁴⁴ and raze you and your children within you to the ground, leaving not one stone upon another within you — and all because you would not understand when God was visiting you."

¹¹ He proceeded to send another servant, and they flogged him too, insulted him and sent him off with nothing. ¹² Then he sent still a third, but this one they wounded and threw outside. ¹³ Said the owner of the vineyard, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.' ¹⁴ But when the vinedressers saw him, they argued to themselves, 'Here is the heir, let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.'

⁴⁵ And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ "Beware of the scribes! They like to walk about in long robes, they are fond of getting saluted in the market-places, of securing the front seats in the synagogues and the best places at banquets;

⁴⁶ "Beware of the scribes! They like to walk about in long robes, they are fond of getting saluted in the market-places, of securing the front seats in the synagogues and the best places at banquets;

⁴⁶ "Beware of the scribes! They like to walk about in long robes, they are fond of getting saluted in the market-places, of securing the front seats in the synagogues and the best places at banquets; ⁴⁷ they prey upon the property of widows and offer long unreal prayers. All the heavier will their sentence be!"

⁴⁷ they prey upon the property of widows and offer long unreal prayers. All the heavier will their sentence be!"

⁴⁷ they prey upon the property of widows and offer long unreal prayers. All the heavier will their sentence be!"

⁶ "As for what you see, there are days coming when not a stone will be left upon another, without being torn down."

²⁰ But whenever you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then be sure her desolation is not far away.

²⁴ they will fall by the edge of the sword, they will be carried prisoners to all nations, and Jerusalem will be under the heel of the Gentiles till the period of the Gentiles expires.

³² I tell you truly, the present generation will not pass away till all this happens. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words never.

²⁶ not so with you. He who is greatest among you must be like the youngest, and he who is chief like a servant. ²⁷ Which is the greatest, guest or servant? Is it not the guest? But I am among you as a servant.

³² but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail. And you in turn must be a strength to your brothers."

⁴⁷ and that repentance and the remission of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

³⁸ Now Jesus turned, and when he observed them coming after him, he asked them, "What do you want?" They replied, "Rabbi" (which may be translated, 'teacher'), "where are you staying?"

⁴⁹ "Rabbi," said Nathanael, "you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel!"

² he came one night to Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we know you have come from God to teach us, for no one could perform these Signs of yours unless God were with him."

²⁶ and they came and told John, "Rabbi, the man who was with you on the opposite side of the Jordan, the man to whom you bore testimony — here he is, baptizing, and everybody goes to him!"

⁴⁴ How can you believe, you who accept credit from one another instead of aiming at the credit which comes from the only God?

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

¹⁸ He who talks on his own authority aims at his own credit, but he who aims at the credit of the person who sent him, he is sincere, and there is no dishonesty in him.

⁴⁶ The attendants replied, "No man ever spoke as he does." ⁴⁷ The Pharisees retorted, "Are you misled as well? ⁴⁸ Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ As for this mob, with its ignorance of the Law — it is accursed!" ⁵⁰ Nicodemus, one of their number (the same who had come to him before), said to them, ⁵¹ "But surely our Law does not condemn the accused before hearing what he has to say and ascertaining his offence?" ⁵² They answered him, "And are you from Galilee, too? Search and you will see that no prophet ever springs from Galilee."

²¹ Then he said to them again, "I go away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin; where I go, you cannot come."

²⁴ So I told you, you would die in your sins; for unless you believe who I am, you will die in your sins."

⁴⁴ You belong to your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires; he was a slayer of men from the very beginning, and he has no place in the truth because there is no truth in him: when he tells a lie, he is expressing his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

⁵⁶ Your father Abraham exulted that he was to see my Day: he did see it and he rejoiced."

²² (His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed him to be Christ should be excommunicated.

²⁴ So the man born blind was summoned a second time, and told, "Now give God the praise; this man, we know quite well, is only a sinner."

³⁴ They retorted, "And so you would teach us — you, born in utter depravity!" Then they expelled him.

³⁹ Then said Jesus, "It is for judgment that I have come into this world, to make the sightless see, to make the seeing blind." ⁴⁰ On hearing this the Pharisees who were beside him asked, "And are we blind?" ⁴¹ Jesus replied, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty; but, as it is, you claim to have sight — and so your sin remains."

⁴³ they preferred the approval of men to the approval of God.

¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right: that is what I am. ¹⁴ Well, if I have washed your feet, I who am your Lord and Teacher, you are bound to wash one another's feet;

¹⁴ Well, if I have washed your feet, I who am your Lord and Teacher, you are bound to wash one another's feet; ¹⁵ for I have been setting you an example, that you should do what I have done to you.

⁹ Jesus said to him, "Philip, have I been with you all this time, and yet you do not understand me? He who has seen me has seen the Father. What do you mean by saying, 'Let us see the Father'?

¹⁹ A little while longer and the world will see me no more; but you will see me, because I am living and you will be living too.

² They will excommunicate you; indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will imagine he is performing a service to God.

²⁸ Then from the house of Caiaphas they took Jesus to the praetorium. (It was early morning.) They would not enter the praetorium themselves, in case of being ceremonially defiled, for they wanted to eat the passover;

⁴⁰ Again they yelled, "No, not him! Bar-Abbas!" Now Bar-Abbas was a robber.

¹⁶ "Mary!" said Jesus. She started round and said, "Rabboni!" (a Hebrew word meaning 'teacher').

²¹ Jesus then repeated, "Peace be with you! As the Father sent me forth, I am sending you forth."

⁸ You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses at Jerusalem, throughout all Judaea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

¹⁰ in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the districts of Libya round Cyrene, visitors from Rome, Jews and proselytes,

²⁹ Brothers, I can speak quite plainly to you about the patriarch David; he died and was buried and his tomb remains with us to this day.

¹⁷ However, to keep things from going any further with the people, we had better threaten them that they are not to tell anyone in future about this Name." ¹⁸ So they called the men in and ordered them not to speak or teach a single sentence about the Name of Jesus.

²⁸ "We strictly forbade you to teach about this Name, did we not? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine! You want to make us responsible for this man's death!" ²⁹ Peter and the apostles answered, "One must obey God rather than men.

⁴⁰ They gave in to him, and after summoning the apostles and giving them a flogging, they released them with instructions that they were not to speak about the name of Jesus.

⁵ This plan commended itself to the whole body, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nikolaos a proselyte from Antioch;

¹³ They also brought forward false witnesses to say, "This fellow is never done talking against this holy Place and the Law! ¹⁴ Why, we have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this Place and change the customs handed down to us by Moses!"

⁴⁹ Heaven is my throne, the earth is a footstool for my feet! What house would you build me? saith the Lord. On what spot could I settle?

⁵¹ Stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ear, you are always resisting the holy Spirit! As with your fathers, so with you! ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Just One. And here you have betrayed him, murdered him! —

⁵⁸ Putting him outside the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called Saul). ⁵⁹ So they stoned Stephen, who called on the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

¹ (Saul quite approved of his murder.) That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone, with the exception of the apostles, was scattered over Judaea and Samaria.

¹ Meanwhile Saul still breathed threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus empowering him to put any man or woman in chains whom he could find belonging to the Way, and bring them to Jerusalem.

²⁷ During these days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch,

² James the brother of John he slew with the sword,

¹ Now in the local church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Symeon (called Niger) and Lucius the Cyrenian, besides Manaen (a foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

⁸ But the sorcerer Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) tried to divert the proconsul from the faith.

¹⁰ and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all good, full of all craft and all cunning, will you never stop diverting the straight paths of the Lord?

⁴³ After the synagogue broke up, a number of the Jews and the devout proselytes followed them; Paul and Barnabas talked to them and encouraged them to hold by the grace of God.

² [Move to follow vs 3] But the refractory Jews stirred up and exasperated the feeling of the Gentiles against the brothers.

¹⁹ But Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived, who won over the crowds, and after pelting Paul with stones they dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead.

¹⁰ Well now, why are you trying to impose a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we ourselves could bear?

²⁸ The holy Spirit and we have decided not to impose any extra burden on you, apart from these essential requirements:

³² and as Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, they encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many a counsel.

⁵ But the Jews were aroused to jealousy; they got hold of some idle rascals to form a mob and set the town in an uproar; they attacked Jason's house in the endeavour to bring them out before the populace, ⁶ but as they failed to find Paul and Silas they haled Jason and some of the brothers before the politarchs, yelling, "These upsetters of the whole world have come here too!

¹³ But when the Jews of Thessalonica heard that Paul was proclaiming the word of God at Beroea as well, they came to create a disturbance and a riot among the crowds at Beroea too.

¹ "Brothers and fathers, listen to the defence I now make before you."

¹⁹ 'But, Lord,' I said, 'they surely know it was I who imprisoned and flogged those who believed in you throughout the synagogues, ²⁰ and that I stood and approved when the blood of your martyr Stephen was being shed, taking charge of the clothes of his murderers!'

³ At this Paul said to him, "You whitewashed wall, God will strike you! You sit there to judge me by the Law, do you? And you break the Law by ordering me to be struck!"

¹⁹ and are persuaded that you are a guide to the blind, a light to darkened souls, ²⁰ a tutor for the foolish, a teacher of the simple, because in the Law you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth — ²¹ well then, do you ever teach yourself, you teacher of other people? You preach against stealing; do you steal? ²² You forbid adultery; do you commit adultery? You detest idols; do you rob temples? ²³ You pride yourself on the Law; do you dishonour God by your breaches of the Law? ²⁴ Why, it is owing to you that the name of God is maligned among the Gentiles, as scripture says!

¹⁴ For the sons of God are those who are guided by the Spirit of God. ¹⁵ You have received no slavish spirit that would make you relapse into fear; you have received the Spirit of sonship. And when we cry, "Abba! Father!", ¹⁶ it is this Spirit testifying along with our own spirit that we are children of God; ¹⁷ and if children, heirs as well, heirs of God, heirs along with Christ — for we share his sufferings in order to share his glory.

²⁵ To prevent you from being self-conceited, brothers, I would like you to understand this secret: it is only a partial insensibility that has come over Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in.

¹⁰ Put affection into your love for the brotherhood; be forward to honour one another;

¹ Every subject must obey the government-authorities, for no authority exists apart from God; the existing authorities have been constituted by God.

⁹ it was for this that Christ died and rose and came to life, to be Lord both of the dead and of the living. ¹⁰ So why do you criticize your brother? And you, why do you look down upon your brother? All of us have to stand before the tribunal of God —

¹² By 'quarrelling' I mean that each of you has his party-cry, "I belong to Paul," "And I to Apollos," "And I to Cephas," "And I to Christ." ¹³ Has Christ been parcelled out? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Was it in Paul's name that you were baptized?

⁶ We do discuss 'wisdom' with those who are mature; only it is not the wisdom of this world or of the dethroned Powers who rule this world,

³ you are still worldly. For with jealousy and quarrels in your midst, are you not worldly, are you not behaving like ordinary men? ⁴ When one cries, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," what are you but men of the world? ⁵ Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? They are simply used by God to give you faith, each as the Lord assigns his task.

¹⁰ In virtue of my commission from God, I laid the foundation of the house like an expert master-builder. It remains for another to build on this foundation. Whoever he is, let him be careful how he builds.

¹⁵ You may have thousands to superintend you in Christ, but you have not more than one father. It was I who in Christ Jesus became your father by means of the gospel.

¹⁹ Why, free as I am from all, I have made myself the slave of all, to win over as many as I could.

³ so I tell you now, that no one is speaking in the Spirit of God when he cries, 'Cursed be Jesus,' and that no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except in the holy Spirit. ⁴ There are varieties of talents, but the same Spirit; ⁵ varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ varieties of effects, but the same God who effects everything in everyone. ⁷ Each receives his manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ One man is granted words of wisdom by the Spirit, another words of knowledge by the same Spirit; ⁹ one man in the same Spirit has the gift of faith, another in the one Spirit has gifts of healing; ¹⁰ one has prophecy, another the gift of distinguishing spirits, another the gift of 'tongues' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting 'tongues.' ¹¹ But all these effects are produced by one and the same Spirit, apportioning them severally to each individual as he pleases.

²⁴ (Not that we lord it over your faith — no, we co-operate for your joy: you have a standing of your own in the faith.)

¹⁴ Besides, their minds were dulled, for to this very day, when the Old Testament is read aloud, the same veil hangs. Veiled from them the fact that the glory fades in Christ! ¹⁵ Yes, down to this day, whenever Moses is read aloud, the veil rests on their heart; ¹⁶ though whenever they turn to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ (The Lord means the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is open freedom.) ¹⁸ But we all mirror the glory of the Lord with face unveiled, and so we are being transformed into the same likeness as himself, passing from one glory to another — for this comes of the Lord the Spirit.

⁵ (It is Christ Jesus as Lord, not myself, that I proclaim; I am simply a servant of yours for Jesus' sake.)

¹⁸ I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty.

¹ As these great promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates either flesh or spirit; let us be fully consecrated by reverence for God].

³ but I am afraid of your thoughts getting seduced from a single devotion to Christ, just as the serpent beguiled Eve with his cunning.

²³ Ministers of Christ? yes perhaps, but not as much as I am (I am mad to talk like this!), with all my labours, with all my lashes, with all my time in prison — a record longer far than theirs. I have been often at the point of death; ²⁴ five times have I got forty lashes (all but one) from the Jews, ²⁵ three times I have been beaten by the Romans, once pelted with stones, three times shipwrecked, adrift at sea for a whole night and day;

¹⁷ These men make much of you — yes, but for dishonest ends; they want to debar you from us, so that you may make much of them.

³ I insist on this again to everyone who gets circumcised, that he is obliged to carry out the whole of the Law.

¹³ Brothers, you were called to be free; only, do not make your freedom an opening for the flesh, but serve one another in love.

²² But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, good temper, kindliness, generosity, fidelity, ²³ gentleness, self-control: — there is no law against those who practise such things.

¹² These men who are keen upon you getting circumcised are just men who want to make a grand display in the flesh — it is simply to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. ¹³ Why, even the circumcision party do not observe the Law themselves! They merely want you to get circumcised, so as to boast over your flesh!

³ among whom all of us lived, we as well as you, when we obeyed the passions of our flesh, carrying out the dictates of the flesh and its impulses, when we were objects of God's anger by nature, like the rest of men.

²² and in him you are yourselves built into this to form a habitation for God in the Spirit.

¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name and nature,

⁸ Thus it is said, When he ascended on high he led a host captive and granted gifts to men. ⁹ What does he ascended mean, except that he first descended to the nether regions of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is he who ascended above all the heavens to fill the universe; ¹¹ he granted some men to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to shepherd and teach, ¹² for the equipment of the saints, for the business of the ministry, for the upbuilding of the Body of Christ,

¹⁵ Some of them, it is true, are actually preaching Christ from envy and rivalry, others from goodwill;

³ never acting for private ends or from vanity, but humbly considering each other the better man,

⁵ Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus. ⁶ Though he was divine by nature, he did not set store upon equality with God ⁷ but emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant; born in human guise ⁸ and appearing in human form, he humbly stooped in his obedience even to die, and to die upon the cross.

¹ Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and brother Timotheus, ² to the consecrated and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: grace and peace to you from God our Father.

²⁸ This is the Christ we proclaim; we train everyone and teach everyone the full scope of this knowledge, in order to set everyone before God mature in Christ;

⁹ It is in Christ that the entire Fulness of deity has settled bodily,

¹⁵ who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, who harassed ourselves, who offend God and oppose all men

¹⁵ who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, who harassed ourselves, who offend God and oppose all men ¹⁶ by hindering us from speaking words of salvation to the Gentiles. So they would fill up the measure of their sins to the last drop! But the Wrath is on them to the bitter end!

¹⁶ by hindering us from speaking words of salvation to the Gentiles. So they would fill up the measure of their sins to the last drop! But the Wrath is on them to the bitter end!

⁴ the adversary who vaunts himself above and against every so-called god or object of worship, actually seating himself in the temple of God with the proclamation that he himself is God.

¹ Never censure an older man harshly; appeal to him as a father. Treat younger men like brothers, ² older women like mothers, younger women like sisters — with perfect propriety.

⁵ for though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force. Avoid all such. ⁶ Some of them worm their way into families and get hold of the women-folk who feel crushed by the burden of their sins — wayward creatures of impulse,

⁸ For these guides of theirs are hostile to the Truth, just as Jannes and Jambres were hostile to Moses; they are depraved in mind and useless for all purposes of faith.

¹⁵ for he has been bitterly hostile to anything I have said.

¹⁰ For there are plenty of insubordinate creatures who impose on people with their empty arguments, particularly those who have come over from Judaism; ¹¹ they must be silenced, for they are undermining whole families by teaching objectionable doctrine for the base end of making money.

¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds; they are detestable, disobedient, and useless for good work of any kind.

³ how shall we escape the penalty for neglecting a salvation which was originally proclaimed by the Lord himself and guaranteed to us by those who heard him,

¹² For the Logos of God is a living thing, active and more cutting than any sword with double edge, penetrating to the very division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow — scrutinizing the very thoughts and conceptions of the heart. ¹³ And no created thing is hidden from him; all things lie open and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to reckon.

²² let us draw near with a true heart, in absolute assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from a bad conscience, and our bodies washed in pure water;

²⁹ How much heavier, do you suppose, will be the punishment assigned to him who has spurned the Son of God, who has profaned the covenant-blood with which he was sanctified, who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

⁴ It was by faith that Abel offered God a richer sacrifice than Cain did, and thus won from God the record of being 'just,' on the score of what he gave; he died, but by his faith he is speaking to us still.

³⁷ they were stoned, sawn in two, and cut to pieces; they had to roam about in sheepskins and goatskins, forlorn, oppressed, ill-treated

⁹ Why, we had fathers of our flesh to discipline us, and we yielded to them! Shall we not far more submit to the Father of our spirits, and so live?

²⁴ to Jesus who mediates the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood whose message is nobler than Abel's. ²⁵ See that you do not refuse to listen to His voice. For if they failed to escape, who refused to listen to their instructor upon earth, much less shall we escape, if we discard Him who speaks from heaven.

¹ My brothers, as you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Glory, pay no servile regard to people. ² Suppose there comes into your meeting a man who wears gold rings and handsome clothes, and also a poor man in dirty clothes; ³ if you attend to the wearer of the handsome clothes and say to him, "Sit here, this is a good place," and tell the poor man, "You can stand," or "Sit there at my feet," ⁴ are you not drawing distinctions in your own minds and proving that you judge people with partiality?

¹ My brothers, do not swell the ranks of the teachers; remember, we teachers will be judged with special strictness.

⁶ Yet he gives grace more and more: thus it is said, The haughty God opposes, but to the humble he gives grace.

⁸ draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

¹² Above all, my brothers, never swear an oath, either by heaven or by earth or by anything else; let your "yes" be a plain "yes," your "no" a plain "no," lest you incur judgment.

³ not by way of lording it over your charges but proving a pattern to the flock.

⁵ You younger men must also submit to the presbyters. Indeed you must all put on the apron of humility to serve one another, for the haughty God opposes, but to the humble he gives grace.

³ in their lust they will exploit you with cunning arguments — men whose doom comes apace from of old, and destruction is awake upon their trail.

¹⁴ their eyes are full of harlotry, insatiable for sin; their own hearts trained to lust, they beguile unsteady souls. Accursed generation! ¹⁵ they have gone wrong by leaving the straight road, by following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who liked the profits of evil-doing —

¹ 'Born of him!' Think what a love the Father has for us, in letting us be called 'children of God!' That is what we are. The world does not recognize us? That is simply because it did not recognize him.

¹¹ For this is the message you have learned from the very beginning, that we are to love one another: ¹² we are not to be like Cain, who belonged to the evil One and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's just.

⁹ I have written to the church; only, Diotrephes, who likes to take the lead among them, repudiates me.

⁹ I John, your brother and your companion in the distress and realm and patient endurance which Jesus brings, found myself in the island called Patmos, for adhering to God's word and the testimony of Jesus.

²⁴ But for the rest of you at Thyatira, for all who do not hold these tenets, for those who have not (in their phrase) 'fathomed the deep mysteries of Satan' — for you this is my word: I impose no fresh burden on you;

² At once I found myself rapt in the Spirit; and lo a Throne stood in heaven with One seated on the throne — ³ the seated One resembled in appearance jasper and sardius — and round the throne a rainbow resembling emerald in appearance;

⁷ But, when they have finished their testimony, the Beast that ascends from the abyss will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, ⁸ and their corpses will lie in the streets of that great City whose mystical name is Sodom and Egypt — where their Lord also was crucified.

¹⁰ and the dwellers on earth will gloat over them and rejoice, sending presents to congratulate one another — for these two prophets were a torment to the dwellers on earth.

⁹ So the huge dragon was thrown down — that old serpent called the Devil and Satan, the seducer of the whole world — thrown down to the earth, and his angels thrown down along with him.

⁶ Then I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus; and as I looked at her I marvelled greatly.

²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, of all who were slain upon earth."

¹⁰ Then I fell before his feet to worship him; but he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a servant like yourself and your brothers, who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God" (for the testimony borne by Jesus is the breath of all prophecy).

⁹ But he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a servant like yourself and your brothers the prophets, who lay to heart the words of this book. Worship God."