Matthew 3 Cross References - Moffatt

¹ In those days John the Baptist came on the scene, preaching in the desert of Judaea, ² "Repent, the Reign of heaven is near." ³ (This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah: The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.') ⁴ This John had his clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather girdle round his loins; his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and the whole of Judaea and all the Jordan-district went out to him ⁶ and got baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 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? ⁸ Now, produce fruit that answers to your repentance, ⁹ instead of presuming to say to yourselves, 'We have a father in Abraham.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ¹⁰ The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier, and I am not fit even to carry his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing-fan is in his hand, he will clean out his threshing-floor, his wheat he will gather into the granary, but the straw he will burn with fire unquenchable." ¹³ Then Jesus came on the scene from Galilee, to get baptized by John at the Jordan. ¹⁴ John tried to prevent him; "I need to get baptized by you," he said, "and you come to me!" ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, "Come now, this is how we should fulfil all our duty to God." Then John gave in to him. ¹⁶ Now when Jesus had been baptized, the moment he rose out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, in him is my delight."

⁸ Now, produce fruit that answers to your repentance,

⁷ As the disciples of John went away, Jesus proceeded to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

¹¹ I tell you truly, no one has arisen among the sons of women who is greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the Realm of heaven is greater than he is.

² And he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead. That is why miraculous powers are working through him." ³ For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias the wife of his brother Philip, ⁴ since John had told him, "You have no right to her." ⁵ He was anxious to kill him but he was afraid of the people, for they held John to be a prophet. ⁶ However, on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced in public to the delight of Herod; ⁷ whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she wanted. ⁸ And she, at the instigation of her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head this moment on a dish." ⁹ The king was sorry, but for the sake of his oath and his guests he ordered it to be given her; ¹⁰ he sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹ his head was brought on a dish and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. ¹² His disciples came and removed the corpse and buried him; then they went and reported it to Jesus. ¹³ When Jesus heard it he withdrew by boat to a desert place in private; but the crowds heard of it and followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ So when he disembarked he saw a large crowd, and out of pity for them he healed their sick folk.

¹⁴ They told him, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

¹² Nay, I tell you Elijah has already come, but they have not recognized him — they have worked their will on him. And the Son of man will suffer at their hands in the same way." ¹³ Then the disciples realized he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

²⁵ Where did the baptism of John come from? From heaven or from men?" Now they argued to themselves, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' ²⁶ And if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet." ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." He said to them, "No more will I tell you what authority I have for acting as I do.

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.

³ the voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him' — ⁴ John appeared baptizing in the desert and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; ⁵ and the whole of Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him and got baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was dressed in camel's hair, with a leather girdle round his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He announced, "After me one who is mightier will come, and I am not fit to stoop and untie the string of his sandals: ⁸ I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the holy Spirit."

¹⁵ he said, "The time has now come, God's reign is near: repent and believe in the gospel."

¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it he said, "John has risen, the John I beheaded." ¹⁷ For this Herod had sent and arrested John and bound him in prison on account of his marriage to Herodias the wife of his brother Philip; ¹⁸ John had told Herod, "You have no right to your brother's wife." ¹⁹ Herodias had a grudge against him; she wanted him killed but she could not manage it, ²⁰ for Herod stood in awe of John, knowing he was a just and holy man; so he protected John — he was greatly exercised when he listened to him, still he was glad to listen to him. ²¹ Then came a holiday, when Herod held a feast on his birthday for his chief officials and generals and the notables of Galilee. ²² The daughter of Herodias went in and danced to them, and Herod and his guests were so delighted that the king said to the girl, "Ask anything you like and I will give you it." ²³ He swore to her, "I will give you whatever you want, were it the half of my realm." ²⁴ So she went out and said to her mother, "What am I to ask?" "John the Baptizer's head," she answered. ²⁵ Then she hurried in at once and asked the king, saying, "I want you to give me this very moment John the Baptist's head on a dish." ²⁶ The king was very vexed, but for the sake of his oaths and his guests he did not like to disappoint her; ²⁷ so the king at once sent one of the guard with orders to bring his head. The man went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a dish, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard of it they went and fetched his body and laid it in a tomb.

¹³ but the angel said to him, "Fear not, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard; your wife Elizabeth will bear a son to you, and you must call his name John. ¹⁴ It will be joy and gladness for you, and many will rejoice over his birth: ¹⁵ for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, he will drink neither wine nor strong drink, he will be filled with the holy Spirit from his very birth; ¹⁶ he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ he will go in front of Him with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, turning the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make a people ready and prepared for the Lord."

⁷⁶ And you, my child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for you shall go in front of the Lord to make his ways ready,

¹ Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, Philip his brother tetrarch of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert; ³ and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins — ⁴ as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him. ⁵ Every valley shall be filled up, every hill and mound laid low, the crooked made straight, the rough roads smooth; ⁶ so shall all flesh see the saving power of God.' 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? ⁸ Now, produce fruits that answer to your repentance, instead of beginning to say to yourselves, 'We have a father in Abraham.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁹ The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." ¹⁰ The crowds asked him, "Then what are we to do?" ¹¹ He replied, "Let everyone who possesses two shirts share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise." ¹² Taxgatherers also came to get baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what are we to do?" ¹³ He said to them, "Never exact more than your fixed rate." ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, "And what are we to do?" He said to them, "Never extort money, never lay a false charge, but be content with your pay." ¹⁵ Now as people's expectations were roused and as everybody thought to himself about John, "Can he be the Christ," ¹⁶ John said to them all, "I baptize you with water, but after me one who is mightier will come, and I am not fit to untie the string of his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing-fan is in his hand to purge his threshing-floor, to gather the wheat into his granary and burn the straw with fire unquenchable." ¹⁸ Thus with many another appeal he spoke his message to the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife as well as for all the wickedness that he, Herod, had committed, ²⁰ crowned all by shutting John up in prison.

²⁴ When John's messengers had gone, he proceeded to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

⁶ A man appeared, sent by God, whose name was John: ⁷ he came for the purpose of witnessing, to bear testimony to the Light, so that all men might believe by means of him. ⁸ He was not the Light; it was to bear testimony to the Light that he appeared.

¹⁵ (John testified to him with the cry, 'This was he of whom I said, my successor has taken precedence of me, for he preceded me.') ¹⁶ For we have all been receiving grace after grace from his fulness; ¹⁷ while the Law was given through Moses, grace and reality are ours through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ Nobody has ever seen God, but God has been unfolded by the divine One, the only Son, who lies upon the Father's breast. ¹⁹ Now here is John's testimony. When the Jews of Jerusalem despatched priests and Levites to ask him, "Who are you?" ²⁰ he frankly confessed — he did not deny it, he frankly confessed, "I am not the Christ." ²¹ They asked him, "Then what are you? Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" "No," he answered. ²² "Then who are you?" they said; "tell us, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. What have you to say for yourself?" ²³ He said, "I am the voice of one who cries in the desert, 'level the way for the Lord' — as the prophet Isaiah said." ²⁴ Now it was some of the Pharisees who had been sent to him; ²⁵ so they asked him, saying, "Then why are you baptizing people, if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet?" ²⁶ "I am baptizing with water," John replied, "but my successor is among you, One whom you do not recognize, ²⁷ and I am not fit to untie the string of his sandal." ²⁸ This took place at Bethany on the opposite side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹ Next day he observed Jesus coming towards him and exclaimed, "Look, there is the lamb of God, who is to remove the sin of the world! ³⁰ That is he of whom I said, 'The man who is to succeed me has taken precedence of me, for he preceded me.' ³¹ I myself did not recognize him; I only came to baptize with water, in order that he might be disclosed to Israel." ³² And John bore this testimony also: "I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and rest on him. ³³ I myself did not recognize him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descending and resting, that is he who baptizes with the holy Spirit.' ³⁴ Now I did see it, and I testify that he is the Son of God." ³⁵ Next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; ³⁶ he gazed at Jesus as he walked about, and said, "Look, there is the lamb of God!"

²⁷ John answered, "No one can receive anything except as a gift from heaven. ²⁸ You can bear me out, that I said, 'I am not the Christ'; what I said was, 'I have been sent in advance of him.' ²⁹ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the bridegroom's friend, who stands by and listens to him, is heartily glad at the sound of the bridegroom's voice. Such is my joy, and it is complete. ³⁰ He must wax, I must wane." ³¹ He who comes from above is far above all others; he who springs from earth belongs to earth and speaks of earth; he who comes from heaven [is far above all others. ³² He] is testifying to what he has seen and heard, and yet no one accepts his testimony. ³³ Whoever does accept it, certifies to the truth of God. ³⁴ For he whom God has sent utters the words of God — God gives him the Spirit in no sparing measure; ³⁵ the Father loves the Son and has given him control over everything. ³⁶ He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who disobeys the Son shall not see life — God's anger broods over him."

²² from the baptism of John down to the day when he was taken up from us — of these men one must join us as a witness to his resurrection."

²⁴ before whose coming John had already preached a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was closing his career he said, 'What do you take me for? I am not He; no, he is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the sandals on his feet!'

³ "Then," said he, "what were you baptized in?" "In John's baptism," they replied. ⁴ "John," said Paul, "baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

¹⁷ From that day Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, the Reign of heaven is near."

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

¹⁰ Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

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.

¹⁰ thy Reign begin, thy will be done on earth as in heaven!

³³ Seek God's Realm and his goodness, and all that will be yours over and above.

⁷ And preach as you go, tell men, 'The Reign of heaven is near.'

¹¹ I tell you truly, no one has arisen among the sons of women who is greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the Realm of heaven is greater than he is. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist till now the Realm of heaven suffers violence, and the violent press into it.

²⁰ Then he proceeded to upbraid the towns where his many miracles had been performed, because they would not repent.

⁴¹ The men of Ninive will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for when Jonah preached they did repent, and here is One greater than Jonah.

¹¹ He replied, "Because it is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people.

²⁴ He put another parable before them. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

³¹ He put another parable before them. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like a grain of mustard-seed which a man takes and sows in his field.

³³ He told them another parable. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like dough which a woman took and buried in three pecks of flour, till all of it was leavened."

⁴⁴ The Realm of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field; the man who finds it hides it and in his delight goes and sells all he possesses and buys that field. ⁴⁵ Again, the Realm of heaven is like a trader in search of fine pearls;

⁴⁷ Again, the Realm of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and collected fish of every sort.

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."

¹ At that hour the disciples came and asked Jesus, "Who is greatest in the Realm of heaven?" ² So he called a child, set it among them, ³ and said, "I tell you truly, unless you turn and become like children, you will never get into the Realm of heaven at all. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the Realm of heaven;

²³ That is why the Realm of heaven may be compared to a king who resolved to settle accounts with his servants.

¹ For the Realm of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard;

²⁹ he replied, 'I will go, sir,' but he did not go. 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.

² "The Realm of heaven," he said, "may be compared to a king who gave a marriage-banquet in honour of his son.

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.

¹ Then shall the Realm of heaven be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride.

¹⁴ For the case is that of a man going abroad, who summoned his servants and handed over his property to them;

⁴ John appeared baptizing in the desert and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

¹² So they went out and preached repentance;

²⁰ Then, raising his eyes he looked at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you poor! the Realm of God is yours.

² He sent them out to preach the Reign of God and to cure the sick.

⁹ heal those in the town who are ill, and tell them, 'The Reign of God is nearly on you.' ¹⁰ But wherever you are not received on entering any town, go out into the streets of the town and cry, ¹¹ 'The very dust of your town that clings to us, we wipe off from our feet as a protest. But mark this, the Reign of God is near!'

²⁰ But if it is by the finger of God that I cast daemons out, then the Reign of God has reached you already.

³ I tell you, no; unless you repent you will all perish as they did.

⁵ I tell you, no; unless you repent you will all perish as they did."

⁷ So, I tell you, there will be joy in heaven over a single sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine good people who do not need to repent.

¹⁰ So, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over a single sinner who repents."

³⁰ 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone only goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

³¹ So, whenever you see all this happen, be sure the Reign of God is at hand.

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

³ Jesus replied, "Truly, truly I tell you, no one can see God's Realm unless he is born from above." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb over again and be born?" ⁵ Jesus replied, "Truly, truly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter God's Realm.

³⁸ "Repent," said Peter, "let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit.

¹⁹ Repent then, and turn to have your sins blotted out, so that a breathing-space may be vouchsafed you,

¹⁸ On hearing this they desisted and glorified God, saying, "So God has actually allowed the Gentiles to repent and live!"

³⁰ Such ages of ignorance God overlooked, but he now charges men that they are all everywhere to repent,

²¹ bearing my testimony, both to Jews and Greeks, of repentance before God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁰ I announced to those at Damascus and at Jerusalem in the first instance, then all over the land of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they were to repent and turn to God by acting up to their repentance.

¹⁰ the pain God is allowed to guide ends in a saving repentance never to be regretted, whereas the world's pain ends in death.

¹³ rescuing us from the power of the Darkness and transferring us to the realm of his beloved Son!

²⁵ he must be gentle in his admonitions to the opposition — God may perhaps let them change their mind and admit the Truth;

¹ Let us pass on then to what is mature, leaving elementary Christian doctrine behind, instead of laying the foundation over again with repentance from dead works, with faith in God,

⁹ The Lord is not slow with what he promises, according to certain people's idea of slowness; no, he is longsuffering for your sake, he does not wish any to perish but all to betake them to repentance.

⁵ Now, remember the height from which you have fallen; repent and act as you did at first. If not, I will come to you [very soon] and remove your lamp stand, unless you repent.

²¹ I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual vice.

³ the voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him' —

¹⁷ he will go in front of Him with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, turning the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make a people ready and prepared for the Lord."

³ and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins — ⁴ as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him. ⁵ Every valley shall be filled up, every hill and mound laid low, the crooked made straight, the rough roads smooth; ⁶ so shall all flesh see the saving power of God.'

²³ He said, "I am the voice of one who cries in the desert, 'level the way for the Lord' — as the prophet Isaiah said."

⁸ Come, what did you go out to see? A man arrayed in soft raiment? The wearers of soft raiment are in royal palaces.

¹⁸ For John has come neither eating nor drinking, and men say, 'He has a devil';

⁶ John was dressed in camel's hair, with a leather girdle round his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

³ But I will allow my two witnesses to prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clad in sackcloth

²⁵ And he was followed by great crowds from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judaea and from across the Jordan.

⁷ As the disciples of John went away, Jesus proceeded to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ⁸ Come, what did you go out to see? A man arrayed in soft raiment? The wearers of soft raiment are in royal palaces. ⁹ Come, why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written, Here I send my messenger before your face to prepare the way for you.

⁵ and the whole of Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him and got baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins.

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?

¹⁶ The Law and the prophets lasted till John; since then the good news of the Realm of God is preached, and anyone presses in.

²³ John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, as there was plenty of water there, and people came to him and were baptized

³⁵ he was a burning and a shining lamp, and you chose to rejoice for a while in his light.

¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier, and I am not fit even to carry his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

¹³ Then Jesus came on the scene from Galilee, to get baptized by John at the Jordan. ¹⁴ John tried to prevent him; "I need to get baptized by you," he said, "and you come to me!" ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, "Come now, this is how we should fulfil all our duty to God." Then John gave in to him. ¹⁶ Now when Jesus had been baptized, the moment he rose out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon him.

⁸ I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the holy Spirit." ⁹ Now it was in those days that Jesus arrived from Nazaret in Galilee and got baptized in the Jordan by John.

¹⁶ John said to them all, "I baptize you with water, but after me one who is mightier will come, and I am not fit to untie the string of his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

¹⁸ I will be up and off to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I don't deserve to be called your son any more; only make me like one of your hired men."' ²⁰ So he got up and went off to his father. But when he was still far away his father saw him and felt pity for him and ran to fall upon his neck and kiss him. ²¹ The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I don't deserve to be called your son any more.'

²⁵ so they asked him, saying, "Then why are you baptizing people, if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet?" ²⁶ "I am baptizing with water," John replied, "but my successor is among you, One whom you do not recognize, ²⁷ and I am not fit to untie the string of his sandal." ²⁸ This took place at Bethany on the opposite side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

³¹ I myself did not recognize him; I only came to baptize with water, in order that he might be disclosed to Israel." ³² And John bore this testimony also: "I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and rest on him. ³³ I myself did not recognize him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descending and resting, that is he who baptizes with the holy Spirit.'

²³ John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, as there was plenty of water there, and people came to him and were baptized ²⁴ (John had not yet been thrown into prison). ²⁵ Now a dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew over the question of 'purification';

⁵ "for John baptized with water, but not many days after this you shall be baptized with the holy Spirit."

³⁸ "Repent," said Peter, "let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is meant for you and for your children and for all who are far off, for anyone whom the Lord our God may call to himself." ⁴⁰ And with many another appeal he urged and entreated them. "Save yourselves," he cried, "from this crooked generation!" ⁴¹ So those who accepted what he said were baptized; about three thousand souls were brought in, that day.

³⁶ You know the message he sent to the sons of Israel when he preached the gospel of peace by Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all); ³⁷ you know how it spread over the whole of Judaea, starting from Galilee after the baptism preached by John — ³⁸ how God consecrated Jesus of Nazaret with the holy Spirit and power, and how he went about doing good and curing all who were harassed by the devil; for God was with him.

¹⁶ and I remembered the saying of the Lord, that 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy Spirit.'

⁴ "John," said Paul, "baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." ⁵ When they heard this, they had themselves baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,

¹⁸ Many believers would also come to confess and disclose their magic spells;

¹⁶ And now, why do you wait? Get up and be baptized and wash away your sins, invoking his name.'

² all were baptized into Moses by the cloud and by the sea,

¹² when you were buried with him in your baptism and thereby raised with him as you believed in the power of the God who raised him from the dead.

⁵ and he saved us, not for anything we had done but from his own pity for us, by the water that means regeneration and renewal under the holy Spirit ⁶ which he poured upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

² with instruction about ablutions and the laying on of hands, about the resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment.

¹⁰ since they relate merely to food and drink and a variety of ablutions — outward regulations for the body, that only hold till the period of the New Order.

¹⁶ So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed; the prayers of the righteous have a powerful effect.

²¹ Baptism, the counterpart of that, saves you to-day (not the mere washing of dirt from the flesh but the prayer for a clean conscience before God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

⁹ if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, he forgives our sins and cleanses us from all iniquity;

²⁰ For I tell you, unless your goodness excels that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the Realm of heaven.

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard of it they said, "This fellow only casts out daemons by Beelzebul the prince of daemons."

³⁴ You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For the mouth utters what the heart is full of.

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?"

⁶ Jesus said to them, "See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

¹¹ Why do you not see that I was not speaking to you about bread? No, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." ¹² Then they realized that what he told them to beware of was not leaven but the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted to trap him in talk.

²³ That same day some Sadducees came up to him, men who hold there is no resurrection. They put this question to him:

³⁴ When the Pharisees heard he had silenced the Sadducees, they mustered their forces,

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.

³³ You serpents! you brood of vipers! how can you escape being sentenced to Gehenna?

³ (The Pharisees and all the Jews decline to eat till they wash their hands up to the wrist, in obedience to the tradition of the elders; 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?"

¹⁵ So he cautioned them, "See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

¹³ But they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to him for the purpose of catching him with a question.

¹⁸ Sadducees, men who hold there is no resurrection, also came up and put a question to him.

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? ⁸ Now, produce fruits that answer to your repentance, instead of beginning to say to yourselves, 'We have a father in Abraham.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁹ The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

³⁰ but the Pharisees and jurists, who had refused his baptism, frustrated God's purpose for themselves.)

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? ⁴¹ Better cleanse what is within; then nothing will be unclean for you. 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. ⁴⁴ Woe to you! you are like unsuspected tombs; men walk over them unawares."

¹⁴ Now the Pharisees who were fond of money heard all this, and they sneered at him.

¹¹ The Pharisee stood up and prayed by himself as follows; 'I thank thee, O God, I am not like the rest of men, thieves, rogues, and immoral, or even like yon taxgatherer.

²⁴ Now it was some of the Pharisees who had been sent to him;

⁴⁵ Then the attendants went back to the high priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why have you not brought him with you?" 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!"

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.

⁴⁰ On hearing this the Pharisees who were beside him asked, "And are we blind?"

¹ While they were speaking to the people, they were surprised by the priests, the commander of the temple, and the Sadducees, ² who were annoyed at them teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus as an instance of resurrection from the dead.

¹⁷ This filled the high priest Annas and his allies, the Sadducean party, with bitter jealousy;

⁵ But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisaic party got up and said, "Gentiles must be circumcised and told to observe the law of Moses."

³¹ So be on the alert, remember how for three whole years I never ceased night and day to watch over each one of you with tears.

⁶ Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!" ⁷ When he said this, a quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; the meeting was divided. ⁸ For while the Sadducees declare there is no such thing as resurrection, angels, or spirits, the Pharisees affirm them all. ⁹ Thus a loud clamour broke out. Some of the scribes who belonged to the Pharisaic party got up and contended, "We find nothing wrong about this man. What if some spirit or angel has spoken to him?"

⁵ They know me of old. They know, if they chose to admit it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the principles of the strictest party in our religion.

¹⁸ But God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the impiety and wickedness of those who hinder the Truth by their wickedness.

⁹ Much more then, now that we are justified by his blood, shall we be saved by him from Wrath.

¹⁰ and to wait for the coming of his Son from heaven — the Son whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the Wrath to come.

⁹ men who will pay the penalty of being destroyed eternally from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ¹⁰ when he comes to be glorified in his saints and marvelled at in all believers on that day (for our testimony has found confirmation in your lives).

¹⁸ so that by these two solid facts (the Promise and the Oath), where it is impossible for God to be false, we refugees might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us,

⁷ It was by faith that Noah, after being told by God what was still unseen, reverently constructed an ark to save his household; thus he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that follows faith.

¹⁰ Here is how the children of God and the children of the devil are recognized; anyone who does not practise righteousness does not belong to God, and neither does he who has no love for his brother.

¹⁶ calling to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb; ¹⁷ for the great Day of their anger has come, and who can stand it?"

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. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now it has come, the salvation and power, the reign of our God and the authority of his Christ! — for the Accuser of our brothers is thrown down, who accused them before God day and night.

²⁸ Tell me what you think. A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard to-day'; ²⁹ he replied, 'I will go, sir,' but he did not go. 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.

⁸ Now, produce fruits that answer to your repentance, instead of beginning to say to yourselves, 'We have a father in Abraham.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

¹⁰ The crowds asked him, "Then what are we to do?" ¹¹ He replied, "Let everyone who possesses two shirts share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise." ¹² Taxgatherers also came to get baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what are we to do?" ¹³ He said to them, "Never exact more than your fixed rate." ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, "And what are we to do?" He said to them, "Never extort money, never lay a false charge, but be content with your pay."

⁴ Or are you slighting all his wealth of kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not know his kindness is meant to make you repent? ⁵ In your stubbornness and impenitence of heart you are simply storing up anger for yourself on the Day of anger, when the just doom of God is revealed. ⁶ For he will render to everyone according to what he has done, ⁷ eternal life to those who by patiently doing good aim at glory, honour, and immortality,

¹⁰ the pain God is allowed to guide ends in a saving repentance never to be regretted, whereas the world's pain ends in death. ¹¹ See what this pain divine has done for you, how serious it has made you, how keen to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how eager for me, how determined, how relentless! You have shown in every way that you were honest in the business.

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.

⁹ (for the fruit of light consists in all that is good and right and true),

¹¹ your life covered with that harvest of righteousness which Jesus Christ produces to the glory and the praise of God.

⁴ bestowing on us thereby promises precious and supreme, that by means of them you may escape the corruption produced within the world by lust, and participate in the divine nature — ⁵ for this very reason, do you contrive to make it your whole concern to furnish your faith with resolution, resolution with intelligence, ⁶ intelligence with self-control, self-control with stedfastness, stedfastness with piety, ⁷ piety with brotherliness, brotherliness with Christian love. ⁸ For as these qualities exist and increase with you, they render you active and fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ;

¹¹ Many, I tell you, will come from east and west and take their places beside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Realm of heaven, ¹² while the sons of the Realm will pass outside, into the darkness; there men will wail and gnash their teeth."

²¹ From within, from the heart of man, the designs of evil come: sexual vice, stealing, murder,

²² Conscious that they were arguing to themselves, Jesus addressed them, saying, "Why argue in your hearts?

³⁹ When his host the Pharisee noticed this, he said to himself, "If he was a prophet he would know what sort of a woman this is who is touching him; for she is a sinner."

¹⁷ So he debated, 'What am I to do? I have no room to store my crops.'

²⁴ so he called out, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me, send Lazarus to dip his fingertip in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.'

⁴⁰ But he replied, "I tell you, if they were to keep quiet, the very stones would shout."

³³ "We are Abraham's offspring," they retorted, "we have never been slaves to anybody. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be free'?"

³⁹ They answered him, "Abraham is our father." "If you are Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then do as Abraham did; ⁴⁰ but now you want to kill me — to kill a man who has told you the truth, the truth I have learned from God. Abraham did not do that.

⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He is dead, and the prophets are dead. Who do you claim to be?"

²⁶ Brothers, sons of Abraham's race and all among you who reverence God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us.

¹⁴ Symeon has explained how it was God's original concern to secure a People from among the Gentiles to bear his Name.

¹ But if so, what can we say about Abraham, our forefather by natural descent?

¹¹ He only got circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which belonged to his faith as an uncircumcised man. The object of this was to make him the father of all who believe as uncircumcised persons and thus have righteousness counted to them, ¹² as well as a father of those circumcised persons who not only share circumcision but walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had as an uncircumcised man. ¹³ The promise made to Abraham and his offspring that he should inherit the world, did not reach him through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is adherents of the Law who are heirs, then faith is empty of all meaning and the promise is void. ¹⁵ (What the Law produces is the Wrath, not the promise of God; where there is no law, there is no transgression either.) ¹⁶ That is why all turns upon faith; it is to make the promise a matter of favour, to make it secure for all the offspring, not simply for those who are adherents of the Law but also for those who share the faith of Abraham — of Abraham who is the father of us all ¹⁷ (as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations). Such a faith implies the presence of the God in whom he believed, a God who makes the dead live and calls into being what does not exist.

⁷ they are not all children of Abraham because they are descended from Abraham. No, it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoned — ⁸ meaning that instead of God's children being the children born to him by natural descent, it is the children of the Promise who are reckoned as his true offspring.

²⁷ No, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame what is strong; ²⁸ God has chosen what is mean and despised in the world — things which are not, to put down things that are;

²⁷ (for all of you who had yourselves baptized into Christ have taken on the character of Christ). ²⁸ There is no room for Jew or Greek, there is no room for slave or freeman, there is no room for male and female; you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ Now if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring; in virtue of the Promise, you are heirs.

²² Surely it is written in the Law that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-woman and one by the free-woman; ²³ but while the son of the slave-woman was born by the flesh, the son of the free-woman was born by the promise. ²⁴ Now this is an allegory. The women are two covenants. One comes from mount Sinai, bearing children for servitude; that is Hagar, ²⁵ for mount Sinai is away in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for the latter is in servitude with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem on high is free, and she is 'our' mother. ²⁷ For it is written, Rejoice, O thou barren who bearest not, break into joy, thou who travailest not; for the children of the desolate woman are far more than of the married. ²⁸ Now you are the children of the Promise, brothers, like Isaac; ²⁹ but just as in the old days the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit, so it is still to-day. ³⁰ However, what does the scripture say? Put away the slave-woman and her son, for the son of the slave-woman shall not be heir along with the son of the free-woman. ³¹ Hence we are children of no slave-woman, my brothers, but of the free-woman,

¹² remember you were in those days outside Christ, aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the Promise, devoid of hope and God within the world. ¹³ Whereas now, within Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁹ [Relocated to follow vs 20] Any tree that does not produce sound fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹⁹ and noticing a fig tree by the roadside he went up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you after this!" And instantly the fig tree withered up.

⁹ The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

⁶ And he told this parable. "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; he came in search of fruit on it but he found none. ⁷ So he said to the vinedresser, 'Here have I come for three years in search of fruit on this fig tree without finding any; cut it down, why should it take up space?' ⁸ But the man replied, 'Leave it for this year, sir, till I dig round about it and put in manure. ⁹ Then it may bear fruit next year. If not, you can have it cut down.'"

³¹ For if this is what they do when the wood is green, what will they do when the wood is dry?"

² he cuts away any branch on me which is not bearing fruit, and cleans every branch which does bear fruit, to make it bear richer fruit.

⁶ If anyone does not remain in me he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers up; then the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire to be burned.

¹ Holy brothers, you who participate in a heavenly calling, look at Jesus then, at the apostle and high priest of our confession; ² he is faithful to Him who appointed him. For while Moses also was faithful in every department of God's house, ³ Jesus has been adjudged greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as the founder of a house enjoys greater honour than the house itself.

⁸ whereas, if it produces thorns and thistles, it is reprobate and on the verge of being cursed — its fate is to be burned.

²⁸ Anyone who has rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy, on the evidence of two or of three witnesses. 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? ³⁰ We know who said, Vengeance is mine, I will exact a requital: and again, The Lord will pass sentence on his people. ³¹ It is an awful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

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.

¹⁷ It is time for the Judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the fate of those who refuse obedience to God's gospel? ¹⁸ If the just man is scarcely saved, what will become of the impious and sinful?

⁶ and got baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

³ and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins —

⁶ So Jesus went with them. But he was not far from the house when the captain sent some friends to tell him, "Do not trouble yourself, sir, I am not fit to have you under my roof, ⁷ and so I did not consider myself fit even to come to you. Just say the word, and let my servant be cured.

¹⁵ (John testified to him with the cry, 'This was he of whom I said, my successor has taken precedence of me, for he preceded me.')

²⁶ "I am baptizing with water," John replied, "but my successor is among you, One whom you do not recognize, ²⁷ and I am not fit to untie the string of his sandal."

³⁰ That is he of whom I said, 'The man who is to succeed me has taken precedence of me, for he preceded me.'

³³ I myself did not recognize him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descending and resting, that is he who baptizes with the holy Spirit.' ³⁴ Now I did see it, and I testify that he is the Son of God."

²³ John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, as there was plenty of water there, and people came to him and were baptized ²⁴ (John had not yet been thrown into prison). ²⁵ Now a dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew over the question of 'purification'; 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!"

² when suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a violent blast of wind, which filled the whole house where they were seated. ³ They saw tongues like flames distributing themselves, one resting on the head of each, ⁴ and they were all filled with the holy Spirit — they began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to express themselves.

¹⁵ Now just as I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning; ¹⁶ and I remembered the saying of the Lord, that 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy Spirit.'

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

¹³ For by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen; we have all been imbued with one Spirit.

²⁷ (for all of you who had yourselves baptized into Christ have taken on the character of Christ). ²⁸ There is no room for Jew or Greek, there is no room for slave or freeman, there is no room for male and female; you are all one in Christ Jesus.

⁸ less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the fathomless wealth of Christ

⁵ and he saved us, not for anything we had done but from his own pity for us, by the water that means regeneration and renewal under the holy Spirit

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.

³⁰ Let them both grow side by side till harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burnt, but to collect the wheat in my granary.'"

⁴¹ the Son of man will despatch his angels, and they will gather out of his Realm all who are hindrances and who practise iniquity,

⁴³ Then the just will shine like the sun in the Realm of their Father. He who has an ear, let him listen to this.

⁴⁹ So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the just ⁵⁰ and fling them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.

⁴³ If your hand is a hindrance to you, cut it off: better be maimed and get into Life, than keep your two hands and go to Gehenna, to the fire that is never quenched. ⁴⁴ -- ⁴⁵ If your foot is a hindrance to you, cut it off: better get into Life a cripple, than keep your two feet and be thrown into Gehenna. ⁴⁶ -- ⁴⁷ If your eye is a hindrance to you, tear it out: better get into God's Realm with one eye, than keep your two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna, ⁴⁸ where their worm never dies and the fire is never put out.

¹⁷ His winnowing-fan is in his hand to purge his threshing-floor, to gather the wheat into his granary and burn the straw with fire unquenchable."

²² but on hearing that Archelaus reigned over Judaea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there and, by a divine injunction in a dream, withdrew to the region of Galilee.

⁹ Now it was in those days that Jesus arrived from Nazaret in Galilee and got baptized in the Jordan by John. ¹⁰ And the moment he rose from the water he saw the heavens cleft and the Spirit coming down upon him like a dove; ¹¹ then said a voice from heaven, 'Thou art my Son, the Beloved, in thee is my delight.'

²¹ Now when all the people had been baptized and when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, heaven opened ²² and the holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my son, the Beloved, to-day have I become thy father."

³² And John bore this testimony also: "I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and rest on him.

⁴³ What have I done to have the mother of my Lord come to me?

¹⁶ For we have all been receiving grace after grace from his fulness;

³ Jesus replied, "Truly, truly I tell you, no one can see God's Realm unless he is born from above." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb over again and be born?" ⁵ Jesus replied, "Truly, truly I tell you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter God's Realm. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh: what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. ⁷ Do not wonder at me telling you, 'You must all be born from above.'

⁶ He came to Simon Peter. "Lord," said he, "you to wash my feet!" ⁷ Jesus answered him, "You do not understand just now what I am doing, but you will understand it later on." ⁸ Said Peter, "You will never wash my feet, never!" "Unless I wash you," Jesus replied, "you will not share my lot."

⁵ "for John baptized with water, but not many days after this you shall be baptized with the holy Spirit." ⁶ Now when they met, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time you are going to restore the Realm to Israel?" ⁷ But he told them, "It is not for you to know the course and periods of time that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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."

²³ All have sinned, all come short of the glory of God,

²⁵ whom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins previously committed during the time of God's forbearance had been passed over;

²² but Scripture has consigned all without exception to the custody of sin, in order that the promise due to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who have faith.

⁶ It is because you are sons that God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying 'Abba! Father!'

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. ⁴ But, dead in trespasses as we were, God was so rich in mercy that for his great love to us ⁵ he made us live together with Christ (it is by grace you have been saved);

⁹ After that I looked, and there was a great host whom no one could count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clad in white robes, with palm-branches in their hands; ¹⁰ and they cried with a loud voice, "Saved by our God who is seated on the throne, and by the Lamb!" ¹¹ And all the angels surrounded the throne and the Presbyters and the four living Creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne, worshipping God ¹² and crying, "Even so! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever: Amen!" ¹³ Then one of the Presbyters addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clad in white robes? where have they come from?" ¹⁴ I said to him, "You know, my lord." So he told me, "These are the people who have come out of the great Distress, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this they are now before the throne of God, serving him day and night within his temple. and he who is seated on the throne shall overshadow them. ¹⁶ Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst, never shall the sun strike them, nor any scorching heat;" ¹⁷ for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, guiding them to fountains of living water; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

⁶ They were both just in the sight of God, blameless in their obedience to all the commands and regulations of God;

³⁴ Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.

²⁹ He who sent me is at my side; he has not left me alone; for I always do what pleases him."

⁷ Jesus answered him, "You do not understand just now what I am doing, but you will understand it later on." ⁸ Said Peter, "You will never wash my feet, never!" "Unless I wash you," Jesus replied, "you will not share my lot." ⁹ "Lord," said Simon Peter, "then wash not only my feet but my hands and head."

¹⁵ for I have been setting you an example, that you should do what I have done to you.

¹⁰ If you keep my commands you will remain within my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain within his love.

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.

²⁶ Such was the high priest for us, saintly, innocent, unstained, lifted high above the heavens, far from all contact with the sinful,

²¹ It is your vocation; for when Christ suffered for you, he left you an example, and you must follow his footsteps. ²² He committed no sin, no guile was ever found upon his lips; ²³ he was reviled and made no retort, he suffered and never threatened, but left everything to Him who judges justly; ²⁴ he bore our sins in his own body on the gibbet, that we might break with sin and live for righteousness; and by his wounds you have been healed.

⁶ he who says he 'remains in him' ought to live as he lived.

¹⁰ And the moment he rose from the water he saw the heavens cleft and the Spirit coming down upon him like a dove;

³¹ I myself did not recognize him; I only came to baptize with water, in order that he might be disclosed to Israel."

³⁴ For he whom God has sent utters the words of God — God gives him the Spirit in no sparing measure;

⁵⁶ "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of man standing at God's right hand!"

¹⁸ Also, he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead — that gives him pre-eminence over all. ¹⁹ For it was in him that the divine Fulness willed to settle without limit,

¹⁸ Here is my servant whom I have selected, my Beloved in whom my soul delights; I will invest him with my Spirit, and he will proclaim religion to the Gentiles.

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."

¹¹ then said a voice from heaven, 'Thou art my Son, the Beloved, in thee is my delight.'

⁷ Then a cloud came overshadowing them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him."

²² and the holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my son, the Beloved, to-day have I become thy father."

³⁵ but a voice came from the cloud, "This is my Son, my Chosen one; listen to him."

³⁷ The Father who sent me has also borne testimony to me himself; but his voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

²⁸ I will say, 'Father, glorify thy name.'" Then came a voice from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." ²⁹ When they heard the sound, the people standing by said it had thundered; others said, "An angel spoke to him." ³⁰ Jesus answered, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.

⁶ redounding to the praise of his glorious grace bestowed on us in the Beloved,

¹⁷ when he was invested with honour and glory by God the Father, and when the following voice was borne to him from the sublime Glory, "This is my son, the Beloved, in whom I delight."

² And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waves and the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like harpists playing on their harps;