Acts 7 Cross References - Williams

¹ The high priest asked, "Are these statements true?" ² He answered: "Listen, brothers and fathers. The glorious God appeared to our forefather Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he ever made his home in Haran, ³ and said to him, 'Leave your country and your kinsmen and come to Whatever country I may show you.' ⁴ So he left the country of the Chaldeans and for a time made his home in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country in which you now live. ⁵ He gave him no property in it, not even a foot of land, and yet He promised to give it to him and his descendants after him, as a permanent possession, although he had no child at that time. ⁶ This is what God promised: 'His descendants will be strangers living in a foreign land, and its people will enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.' ⁷ But God further promised: 'I will pass sentence on the nation that enslaves them, and after that they will leave that country and worship me on this very spot.' ⁸ And with Abraham He made the sacred compact of circumcision, and he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. ⁹ And the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him from all his troubles, and allowed him to win favor and to show wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and so he appointed Joseph governor of Egypt and of his whole household. ¹¹ Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our forefathers could not find the simplest food. ¹² But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt and sent our forefathers on their first visit down there. ¹³ On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and thus Joseph's race was revealed to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his kinsmen, seventy-five in all; ¹⁵ and Jacob came down to Egypt. There he and our forefathers died ¹⁶ and were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought with a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. ¹⁷ As the time approached for realizing the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people multiplied and became more numerous in Egypt, ¹⁸ until another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, ascended the throne. ¹⁹ By taking a cunning advantage of our race he oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to expose their infants so that they should not live. ²⁰ At this time Moses was born. He was a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. ²¹ When he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. Thus ²² Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians, and was a mighty man in speech and action. ²³ As he was rounding out his fortieth year, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel. ²⁴ Because he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended and avenged the man who was suffering ill-treatment by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He supposed that his brothers would understand that God through his instrumentality was going to deliver them, but they did not. ²⁶ The next day he showed himself to two of them engaged in a fight, and he tried to get them to make friends, saying, 'You are brothers, why should you harm each other?' ²⁷ But the man who was harming his brother pushed him aside, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?' ²⁹ At this statement Moses fled, and went and lived in the land of Midian, and became the father of two sons. ³⁰ When forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, and when he went up to look at it, the voice of the Lord said to him, ³² 'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush. ³³ Then the Lord said to him, 'Take your shoes off your feet, for the place where you are standing is sacred ground. ³⁴ Because I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and heard their groans, I have come down to deliver them. So come! I will send you back to Egypt as my messenger.' ³⁵ That very Moses whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?' was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer, by the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ It was he who brought them out of Egypt by performing wonders and signs there and at the Red Sea -- as he did also in the desert for forty years. ³⁷ It was this Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among you, just as He did me.' ³⁸ This is the one who in the congregation in the desert went between the angel, who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and our forefathers, who also received, to be handed down to you, utterances that still live. ³⁹ But our forefathers would not listen to him, but pushed him aside, and in their hearts they hankered after Egypt; ⁴⁰ and they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!' ⁴¹ In those days they even made a calf, and offered sacrifice to their idol, and held a celebration over the works of their own hands. ⁴² So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the starry host, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets: 'Did you really offer me victims and sacrifices those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? ⁴³ No, you offered me the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, the images you had made to worship! So I will now remove you beyond Babylon.' ⁴⁴ "In the desert our forefathers had the tent of the testimony, like the model Moses had seen, as God who spoke to him ordered him to make it. ⁴⁵ This tent our forefathers brought in and passed on when under Joshua they dispossessed the nations which God drove out before them, and it remained until the time of David. ⁴⁶ He found favor with God and begged to design a dwelling for the God of Jacob, ⁴⁷ but it was Solomon who came to build a house for Him. ⁴⁸ But the Most High does not live in buildings built by human hands. As the prophet says: ⁴⁹ '"Heaven is my throne, and earth a footstool for my feet. What house can you build for me?" says the Lord; "Or what place is there in which I can rest? ⁵⁰ Was it not my hand that made them all?"' ⁵¹ "You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him, ⁵³ you who received the law by order of the angels, and yet you did not obey it!" ⁵⁴ As they continued to listen to this address, they were becoming infuriated and began to grind their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But since he was full of the Holy Spirit, he looked right into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. ⁵⁶ So he said, "Look! I see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand." ⁵⁷ But they raised a great shout and held their ears, and all together rushed upon him, ⁵⁸ and dragged him out of the city and continued stoning him. The witnesses, in the meantime, laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ They continued stoning Stephen as he continued praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not charge this sin on the book against them!" On saying this he fell asleep in death.

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

¹⁶ And as soon as Jesus was baptized, He at once went up out of the water, and look! the heavens opened, and John saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon Him,

¹² Keep on rejoicing and leaping for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you.

³⁴ But I tell you not to swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.

⁴⁴ But I tell you, practice loving your enemies and praying for your persecutors,

¹³ And do not let us be subjected to temptation, but save us from the evil one.

¹² while the heirs of the kingdom will be turned out into the darkness outside, where they will be weeping and grinding their teeth."

²⁰ And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, even wild birds have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

³⁷ Anybody who loves father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me,

⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of torturing punishment; there they will wail and grind their teeth.

⁵⁰ and will throw them into the furnace of torturing punishment. There they will wail and grind their teeth.

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's splendor, with His angels, and then He will pay back to everyone in accordance with what he has done. ²⁸ I solemnly say to you, some of the people standing here will certainly live to see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

³ Then Moses and Elijah appeared to them and kept talking with Him. ⁴ And Peter interrupted, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! If you consent, I will put up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud cast its shadow over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am delighted. Keep on listening to Him!" ⁶ When the disciples heard it, they fell upon their faces, for they were terribly frightened.

²³ And when He had come into the temple, the high priests and elders of the people came up to Him while He was teaching, and asked, "What sort of authority have you for doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

³⁵ But the tenants took his slaves and beat the first one, killed the second, and stoned the third. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves, and more than at first, and they treated them exactly the same way. ³⁷ At last he sent his son to them, for he said to himself, 'They will surely respect my son.' ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is his heir, come on, let us kill him, and get all that is coming to him!' ³⁹ So they took him and drove him out of the vineyard and murdered him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the estate comes back, what will he do to these tenants?" ⁴¹ They answered, "In vengeance he will put the scoundrels to death, and rent the vineyard to other tenants who will promptly pay him the rent."

¹³ Then the king said to his attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot and throw him out into the darkness on the outside, where he will have to weep and grind his teeth.'

³² 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob!' Now God is not the God of dead but of living men."

²² whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

³¹ So you are witnessing against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

³¹ So you are witnessing against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Then fill up to the brim the cup of your forefathers' guilt!

³² Then fill up to the brim the cup of your forefathers' guilt! ³³ You serpents! You brood of vipers! How can you escape a sentence to the pit!

³³ You serpents! You brood of vipers! How can you escape a sentence to the pit! ³⁴ Therefore, I am going to send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of whom you will kill -- even crucify -- and some you will flog in your synagogues and chase from city to city, ³⁵ so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ I solemnly say to you, all this will come upon this age! ³⁷ "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! The city that has kept on murdering the prophets, and stoning those who have been sent to her, how often I have yearned to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused!

² But He answered them, "Do you see all these things? I solemnly say to you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be torn down."

⁵¹ and will cut him in two, and give him his share with the hypocrites, where they will weep and grind their teeth."

³⁰ And throw the good-for-nothing slave out into the darkness on the outside, where he will weep and grind his teeth.' ³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in His splendor, and all the angels with Him, He will take His seat on His splendid throne,

⁶¹ and said, "This man said, 'I can tear down the temple of God, and build it again in three days.'" ⁶² Then the high priest arose and said to Him, "Have you no answer to make? What do you say to the evidence that they bring against you?"

⁶⁴ Jesus answered him, "Yes, I am. But I tell you, you will all soon see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, and coming on the clouds of the sky." ⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his clothes, and said, "He has uttered blasphemy, What more evidence do we need? You have just heard His blasphemy.

¹⁸ For he knew that they had turned Him over to the court out of envy.

⁵² the tombs were opened, and many bodies of saints then sleeping in death rose

¹⁰ And just as soon as He started to come up out of the water, He saw the heavens split open and the Spirit coming down like a dove to enter Him.

⁷ Then a cloud came and was circling over them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my Son, my Beloved; keep on listening to Him!"

³² But they did not understand what this statement meant, and they were afraid to ask Him.

²⁶ But as to the rising of the dead, did you never read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

⁵⁸ "We ourselves have heard Him say, 'I will tear down this temple built by men's hands, and in three days I will build another, made without hands.'" ⁵⁹ But even in this matter their testimony did not agree. ⁶⁰ Then the high priest arose in the midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer to make? What about this testimony they are giving against you?"

¹⁹ So the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was caught up into heaven and took His seat at God's right hand.

¹⁴ "Glory to God in highest heaven! And peace on earth to men who please him."

²¹ Now when all the people had been baptized, and when Jesus had been baptized and was still praying, heaven opened

²⁹ and they rose up and drove Him out of town and took Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, to hurl Him down the cliff.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Lord, because I am a sinful man."

²⁸ continue to bless those who curse you, and continue to pray for those who abuse you.

³⁰ And two men were talking with Him. They were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in splendor and were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³⁵ Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; continue to listen to Him!"

⁴⁵ But they remained ignorant of what this meant; indeed, it had been hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

⁴⁷ A curse on you, because you build monuments for the prophets, whom your forefathers killed! ⁴⁸ So you testify to what your forefathers did and approve it, because they killed them and you build monuments for them. ⁴⁹ This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute'; ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the creation of the world may be charged against the men of this age -- ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against the men of this age.

¹⁴ But He said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or umpire in your affairs?"

²⁸ There you will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves being driven away on the outside.

³³ But I must continue on my way, for it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem.' ³⁴ "O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! The city that continues to murder the prophets, and to stone those who are sent to her, how often I have yearned to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But you refused!

³³ "Just so, no one of you who does not forsake everything that he has, can be a disciple of mine.

³⁴ But they did not understand about these things, and this statement was an insoluble riddle to them; they did not even begin to grasp what He meant.

¹⁴ But his citizens continued to hate him, and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We do not want this man to become king over us.'

³⁷ But that the dead are raised, even Moses at the bush has demonstrated, when he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'

⁴¹ And He Himself withdrew about a stone's throw from them, and after kneeling down He continued to pray,

³⁴ They drew lots to divide His clothes among them.

⁴⁶ Then Jesus uttered a loud cry, and said, "Father, I now commit my spirit to your care." As He said this He breathed His last.

¹⁹ And He said to them, "What sort of things?" They answered Him, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who in the sight of God and of all the people became a prophet mighty in deed and word,

¹⁴ So the Word became human and lived a little while among us, and we actually saw His glory, the glory of One who is an only Son from His Father, and He was full of spiritual blessing and truth.

¹⁷ For while the law was given through Moses, spiritual blessing and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

⁵¹ Then He said to him, "I most solemnly say to you all, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up, and coming down upon the Son of Man!"

¹³ And yet no one has gone up into heaven except the Son of Man who came down out of heaven.

²¹ Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

²² For the Father passes sentence on no one, but He has committed all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all men may honor the Son as they do the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. ²⁴ "I most solemnly say to you, whoever listens to me and believes Him who has sent me possesses eternal life, and will never come under condemnation, but has already passed out of death into life. ²⁵ I most solemnly say to you, a time is coming -- indeed, it is already here -- when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen to it will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted to the Son to have life in Himself. ²⁷ He has also granted to Him authority to act as Judge because He is the Son of Man.

³⁸ because I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me.

⁶³ The Spirit is what gives life; the flesh does not help at all. The truths that I have told you are spirit and life.

¹⁹ Did not Moses give you the law? And yet not one of you is keeping that law. If so, why are you trying to kill me?"

²² Then Moses gave you the rite of circumcision -- not that it had its origin with Moses but with your earlier forefathers -- and you circumcise a male child even on the Sabbath.

⁴⁶ Who of you can prove me guilty of sin? But if I do tell you the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever is sprung from God listens to what God says. This is why you do not listen to me: you are not sprung from God."

²³ and Jesus was walking in Solomon's portico. ²⁴ So the Jews surrounded Him and kept asking Him, "How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are really the Christ, tell us so plainly." ²⁵ Jesus answered them, "I have already told you so, but you do not believe me. The works which I am doing on my Father's authority are my credentials, ²⁶ but still you do not believe in me, for you do not belong to my sheep.

⁴¹ Isaiah said this, because he saw His glory; yes, he spoke about Him.

³ And if I go and make it ready for you, I will come back and take you to be face to face with me, so that you may always be right where I am.

¹⁷ "What I command you to do is, to keep on loving one another. ¹⁸ If the world continues to hate you, remember that it has first hated me.

¹⁰ So Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus. ¹¹ Then Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into the sheath. Must I not drink the cup which the Father has handed me?"

¹⁹ Then the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, "I have spoken publicly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogues and in the temple where all the Jews are in the habit of meeting, and I have not spoken anything in secret. ²¹ So why are you questioning me? Ask those who heard what I told them. Of course, they know what I said."

²⁵ But Simon Peter still stood warming himself. So they said to him, "You too are not one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "No, I am not." ²⁶ One of the high priest's slaves, who was a kinsman of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?" ²⁷ Then Peter again denied it, and at that moment a cock crowed.

³³ So Pilate went back into the governor's palace and called Jesus and asked Him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" ³⁴ Jesus answered him, "Do you ask me this on your own initiative, or have others suggested it to you about me?" ³⁵ Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and their high priests have turned you over to me. What have you done?" ³⁶ Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would have been fighting to keep me from being turned over to the Jews. But as a matter of fact, my kingdom does not come from such a source." ³⁷ Then Pilate said to Him, "So you are a king then?" Jesus answered, "Certainly I am a king. For this very purpose I was born, for this very purpose I have come into the world, to testify for truth. Everybody who is a friend of truth listens to my voice."

³⁷ Then Pilate said to Him, "So you are a king then?" Jesus answered, "Certainly I am a king. For this very purpose I was born, for this very purpose I have come into the world, to testify for truth. Everybody who is a friend of truth listens to my voice."

⁴⁰ Then they all shouted back, "No! Not Him, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber.

¹² Because of this Pilate kept on trying to set Him free, but the Jews shouted, "If you set Him free, you are no friend to the emperor. Anyone who claims to be a king is uttering treason against the emperor!" ¹³ On hearing this Pilate had Jesus brought out and had Him sit on the judge's bench at the place called the Stone Platform, or in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. Then Pilate said to the Jews, "There is your king!" ¹⁵ But they shouted, "Kill Him! Kill Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Must I crucify your king?" The high priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor!"

¹⁵ But they shouted, "Kill Him! Kill Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Must I crucify your king?" The high priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor!"

¹⁰ And while they were gazing after Him into heaven, two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them, ¹¹ and said to them, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This very Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in just the way you have seen Him go up into heaven."

⁴ and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit granted them to utter divine things.

²¹ Then everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.'

²³ this very Jesus, I say, after He was betrayed, in accordance with the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you had wicked men kill by nailing Him to a cross;

²⁹ "Brothers, I may confidently say to you about the patriarch David, that he died and was buried, and that his grave is here among us to this very day.

³⁶ "Therefore, let all the descendants of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ."

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you yourselves betrayed and disowned before Pilate, although he had decided to set Him free.

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you yourselves betrayed and disowned before Pilate, although he had decided to set Him free. ¹⁴ Yes, you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked a murderer to be pardoned as a favor to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the Prince of life, but God raised Him from the dead, to which fact we are witnesses.

¹⁸ But in this way God fulfilled what He by the lips of all the prophets foretold, that the Christ should suffer.

²² Moses, indeed, said: 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as He did me. You must attentively listen to everything that He tells you.

²² Moses, indeed, said: 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as He did me. You must attentively listen to everything that He tells you. ²³ The result will be, that any person who will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.' ²⁴ Yes, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel down, have also foretold these days.

⁷ They had the men stand before them and repeatedly inquired of them, "By what sort of power and authority have you done this?" ⁸ Then Peter, because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Leaders and elders of the people,

¹⁰ you and all the people of Israel must know that it is by the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead -- yes, I repeat it, it is by His authority that this man stands here before you well. ¹¹ He is the stone that was thrown away by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. ¹² There is no salvation by anyone else, for no one else in all the wide world has been appointed among men as our only medium by which to be saved."

²⁸ "Did we not positively forbid you to teach anymore on this authority, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and now want to bring on us the people's vengeance for this man's death!" ²⁹ Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life after you had hanged Him on a cross and killed Him. ³¹ God has exalted to His right hand this very One as our Leader and Saviour, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

³³ When they heard this, they were furious, and wanted to kill them.

³ So, brothers, you must select from your number seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit, and of good practical sense, and we will assign them to this business,

⁵ This suggestion was approved by the whole body, and so they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Procorus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, who was a convert to Judaism.

⁸ Now Stephen, full of grace and power, went on performing great signs and wonders among the people.

¹⁰ but they could not cope with his good practical sense and the spiritual power with which he usually spoke. ¹¹ So they instigated men to say, "We have heard him speaking abusive words against Moses and God."

¹³ Then they put up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and against the law,

¹³ Then they put up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and against the law, ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will tear this place down, and change the customs which Moses handed down to us."

⁶ This is what God promised: 'His descendants will be strangers living in a foreign land, and its people will enslave and oppress them for four hundred years.'

⁹ And the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him

⁹ And the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him from all his troubles, and allowed him to win favor and to show wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and so he appointed Joseph governor of Egypt and of his whole household. ¹¹ Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our forefathers could not find the simplest food. ¹² But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt and sent our forefathers on their first visit down there. ¹³ On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and thus Joseph's race was revealed to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his kinsmen, seventy-five in all; ¹⁵ and Jacob came down to Egypt. There he and our forefathers died

¹⁷ As the time approached for realizing the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people multiplied and became more numerous in Egypt,

²⁷ But the man who was harming his brother pushed him aside, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?

²⁷ But the man who was harming his brother pushed him aside, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?'

²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?'

³⁰ When forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.

³² 'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was so terrified that he did not dare to look at the bush.

³⁵ That very Moses whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and referee?' was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer, by the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ It was he who brought them out of Egypt by performing wonders and signs there and at the Red Sea -- as he did also in the desert for forty years.

³⁸ This is the one who in the congregation in the desert went between the angel, who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and our forefathers, who also received, to be handed down to you, utterances that still live. ³⁹ But our forefathers would not listen to him, but pushed him aside, and in their hearts they hankered after Egypt;

⁴² So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the starry host, as it is written in the Book of the Prophets: 'Did you really offer me victims and sacrifices those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?

⁵¹ "You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too.

⁵¹ "You people, stubborn in will, heathenish in hearts and ears, you are always resisting the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did, too. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your forefathers fail to persecute? They killed the prophets who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have betrayed and murdered Him, ⁵³ you who received the law by order of the angels, and yet you did not obey it!" ⁵⁴ As they continued to listen to this address, they were becoming infuriated and began to grind their teeth at him.

¹ Saul heartily approved of his being put to death. So on that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all of them, except the apostles, were scattered over Judea and Samaria.

¹ Now Saul, as he was still breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that if he found any men or women belonging to The Way he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem. ³ As he traveled on he finally approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He dropped to the ground; then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

⁴ He dropped to the ground; then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" ⁵ He asked, "Who are you, sir?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

⁵ He asked, "Who are you, sir?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But get up and go into the city, and there it will be told you what you ought to do."

⁶ But get up and go into the city, and there it will be told you what you ought to do." ⁷ His fellow-travelers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could not see anyone. ⁸ Then Saul got up off the ground, but he could not see anything, although his eyes were wide open. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus, ⁹ and for three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink anything. ¹⁰ Now there was in Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord, I am here." ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for one named Saul, from Tarsus, for he is now praying there. ¹² He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, to restore his sight." ¹³ But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell of this man, especially the great sufferings he has brought on your people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name."

¹⁴ Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name." ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name to the heathen and their kings, and to the descendants of Israel. ¹⁶ For I am going to show him how great are the sufferings he must endure for my name's sake." ¹⁷ So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸ And all at once something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food he felt strong again. For several days he stayed with the disciples at Damascus,

²¹ And all who heard him were astounded and said, "Is not this the man who harassed those who called upon this name in Jerusalem, and has come here expressly for the purpose of putting them in chains and taking them back to the high priests?"

⁴⁰ Then Peter put them all out of the room, knelt down and prayed, and, turning to the body, said, "Tabitha, get up!" Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

¹¹ and saw the sky opened, and something like a great sheet coming down, lowered to the earth by the four corners,

¹⁶ This took place three times; then all at once the thing was taken up into the sky.

⁹ Then Saul, who was also called Paul, because he was full of the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye ¹⁰ and said, "You expert in every form of deception and sleight-of-hand, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, will you never stop trying to make the Lord's straight paths crooked!

¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our forefathers, and made this people important during their stay in Egypt, and then with an uplifted arm He led them out of it. ¹⁸ Then after He had fed them forty years in the desert, ¹⁹ He destroyed seven nations in Canaan

²² Then He deposed him and raised up for them David to be king, to whom He bore this testimony, 'I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all that my will requires.'

³⁶ For David, after having served God's purpose in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his forefathers, and so he did experience decay,

¹⁵ and shouted, "Men, why are you doing this? We are merely men with natures like your own, who are telling you the good news, so that you may turn from these foolish things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that they contain.

²⁷ On arriving there they called the church together, and in detail reported to them all that God had done through them as instruments, and how He had opened to the heathen the door of faith.

⁴ When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported what God had done through them as instruments.

⁷ After a lengthy discussion Peter got up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose among you that through me the heathen should hear the message of the good news and believe it.

³⁶ Some days after this Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we preached the Lord's message, to see how they are."

²⁴ The God who made the world and all that it contains, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands, ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

³⁶ After he had finished this speech, he fell on his knees with them all and prayed.

⁵ But when our time was up, we left there and went on, and all of them with their wives and children accompanied us out of town. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed;

¹⁹ Paul first greeted them and then gave them a detailed account of what God had done among the heathen through his service.

²⁷ As the seven days were drawing to a close, the Jews from Asia caught a glimpse of him in the temple and began to stir up all the crowd, and seized him, ²⁸ as they kept shouting, "Men of Israel, help! help! This is the man who teaches everybody everywhere against our people and the law and this place; yea, more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and desecrated this sacred place." ²⁹ For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus in the city with him, and so they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰ The whole city was stirred with excitement, and all at once the people rushed together, and seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and its gates at once were shut. ³¹ Now while they were trying to kill him, news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a ferment.

¹ "Brothers and fathers, listen now to what I have to say in my defense."

⁴ I persecuted this Way even to the death, and kept on binding both men and women and putting them in jail,

¹⁴ and he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to learn His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear Him speak,

¹⁶ And now, why are you waiting? Get up and be baptized and wash your sins away by calling on His name.'

²⁰ and when the blood of your martyr Stephen was being shed, I stood by and approved it, and held the clothes of those who killed him.'

²² They listened to him until he said this, and then all at once they shouted, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is certainly not fit to live!" ²³ While they were shouting and tossing their clothes about and flinging dust into the air,

⁷ When he said that, an angry dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the crowded court was divided.

²⁷ This man had been seized by the Jews and they were on the point of killing him when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, because I had learned that he was a Roman citizen.

²⁴ So God has given them up to sexual impurity, in the evil trend of their heart's desires, so that they degrade their own bodies with one another, ²⁵ for they had utterly transformed the reality of God into what was unreal, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. ²⁶ This is why God has given them up to degrading passions. For their females have exchanged their natural function for one that is unnatural, ²⁷ and males too have forsaken the natural function of females and been consumed by flaming passion for one another, males practicing shameful vice with other males, and continuing to suffer in their persons the inevitable penalty for doing what is improper. ²⁸ And so, as they did not approve of fully recognizing God any longer, God gave them up to minds that He did not approve, to practices that were improper;

²³ You who boast about the law, do you by breaking it dishonor God? ²⁴ For, as the Scripture says, the name of God is abused among the heathen because of you. ²⁵ Now circumcision benefits you only if you practice the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision.

²⁵ Now circumcision benefits you only if you practice the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision.

²⁸ For the real Jew is not the man who is a Jew on the outside, and real circumcision is not outward physical circumcision. ²⁹ The real Jew is the man who is a Jew on the inside, and real circumcision is heart-circumcision, a spiritual, not a literal, affair. This man's praise originates, not with men, but with God.

² They are great from every point of view. In the first place, the Jews are entrusted with the utterances of God.

¹⁰ Under what circumstances was it credited to him as right standing? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? Not after but before he was circumcised.

⁴ For they are Israelites; to them belong the privileges of sonship, God's glorious presence, the special covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, the promises,

⁹ For this is the language of the promise, "About this time next year I will come back, and Sarah will have a son." ¹⁰ Not only that but this too: There was Rebecca who was impregnated by our forefather Isaac. ¹¹ For even before the twin sons were born, and though they had done nothing either good or bad, that God's purpose in accordance with His choice might continue to stand, conditioned not on men's actions but on God's calling them, ¹² she was told, "The elder will be a slave to the younger." ¹³ As the Scripture says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."

⁶ But here is what the faith-way to right standing says, "Do not say to yourself, 'Who will go up to heaven?'" that is, to bring Christ down; ⁷ or "'Who will go down into the depths?'" that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. ⁸ But what does it say? "God's message is close to you, on your very lips and in your heart"; that is, the message about faith which we preach. ⁹ For if with your lips you acknowledge the fact that Jesus is Lord, and in your hearts you believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For in their hearts people exercise the faith that leads to right standing, and with their lips they make the acknowledgment which means salvation.

¹² But there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is over them all, because He is infinitely kind to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. ¹⁴ But how can people call upon One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in One about whom they have not heard? And how can people hear without someone to preach to them?

¹⁴ Keep on blessing your persecutors; keep on blessing and stop cursing them. ¹⁵ Practice rejoicing with people who rejoice, and weeping with people who weep. ¹⁶ Keep on thinking in harmony with one another. Stop being high-minded but keep on associating with lowly people. Stop being conceited. ¹⁷ Stop returning evil for evil to anyone. Always see to it that your affairs are right in the sight of everybody. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with everybody. ¹⁹ Stop taking revenge on one another, beloved, but leave a place for God's anger, for the Scripture says, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay them back, says the Lord." ²⁰ Do the opposite. If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for if you act in this way, you will heap burning coals upon his head! ²¹ Stop being conquered by evil, but keep on conquering evil with good.

¹⁸ For I would venture to mention only what Christ has accomplished through me in bringing the heathen peoples to obedience, by word and by work,

² to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated by union with Christ Jesus, and called to be God's people, in fellowship with those who anywhere call upon the name of Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

⁸ Not one of this world's leaders understands it, for if they had, they would never have crucified our glorious Lord.

⁹ for we belong to God as His fellow-workers; you belong to God as His field to be tilled, as His building to be built.

⁶ but one brother has to go to law with another, and that before unbelieving judges? ⁷ To say no more, it is a mark of moral failure among you to have lawsuits at all with one another. Why not rather suffer being wronged? Why not suffer being robbed? ⁸ On the contrary, you practice wronging and robbing others, and that your brothers.

³⁰ This is why many of you are sick and feeble, and a considerable number are falling asleep.

⁶ After that, at one time He was seen by more than five hundred brothers, most of whom are still living, though some of them have fallen asleep.

¹⁰ But by God's unmerited favor I have become what I am, and His unmerited favor shown to me was not bestowed for nothing, for I have toiled more extensively than any of them, and yet it was not I but God's unmerited favor working with me.

¹⁸ Yes, even those who have fallen asleep, though in union with Christ, have perished.

²⁰ But in reality Christ has been raised from the dead, the first to be raised of those who have fallen asleep.

⁵¹ Let me tell you a secret. We shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed,

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers, to keep the glorious light of the good news of Christ, who is the likeness of God, from dawning upon them. ⁵ For I am not proclaiming myself but Christ Jesus as Lord, and myself a slave of yours for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, reflected on the face of Christ.

⁶ For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, reflected on the face of Christ.

¹ As God's fellow-worker I beg you too not to accept God's favor and throw it away.

¹⁷ Therefore: "'Come out of company with them, and separate from them,' the Lord has said, 'And stop touching what is unclean; then I will welcome you,

¹⁶ But thanks be to God, who kindles in the heart of Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have;

² I know a man in union with Christ fourteen years ago -- whether in the body or out of it, I do not know, but God knows -- who was caught up to the third heaven. ³ Yes, I know that this man -- whether in or out of the body, I do not know, but God knows -- ⁴ was actually caught up into paradise, and heard things that must not be told, which no man has a right even to mention.

¹⁵ Brothers, I am going to use a human illustration: Even a human contract, once it has been ratified, no one can annul or change.

¹⁷ I mean this: The law which was given four hundred and thirty years later could not annul the contract which had already been ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise.

¹⁹ Then what about the law? It was added later on to increase transgressions, until the descendant to whom the promise was made should come, enacted through the agency of angels in the person of an intermediary.

²⁵ that is, Hagar (and Hagar means Mount Sinai, in Arabia) and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is in slavery with her children.

¹³ Indeed, the very men who let themselves be circumcised do not themselves observe the law. But they simply want you to let yourselves be circumcised, so that they can boast of you as members of their party.

³⁰ You must stop offending the Holy Spirit of God by whom you have been stamped for the day of redemption.

¹ So, if there is any appeal in our union with Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love, if we have any common share in the Spirit, if you have any tenderheartedness and sympathy,

³ Stop acting from motives of selfish strife or petty ambition, but in humility practice treating one another as your superiors.

¹² So, my dearly loved friends, as you have always been obedient, so now with reverence and awe keep on working clear down to the finishing point of your salvation not only as though I were with you but much more because I am away; ¹³ for it is God Himself who is at work in you to help you desire it as well as do it.

³ For we are the true circumcision, who by the Spirit of God worship Him, who take pride in Christ Jesus only, and do not rely on outward privileges,

¹⁵ Yes, He is the exact likeness of the unseen God, His first-born Son who existed before any created thing,

²⁹ For this I am toiling and struggling by His active energy which is mightily working in me.

¹¹ And through your union with Him you once received, not a hand-performed circumcision but one performed by Christ, in stripping you of your lower nature,

¹⁵ who killed the Lord Jesus and persecuted the prophets and us; and who continue to displease God and show themselves in opposition to all mankind,

¹³ Also we do not want you to have any misunderstanding, brothers, about those who are falling asleep, so as to keep you from grieving over them as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then through Jesus, God will bring back with Him those who have fallen asleep.

¹⁰ who died for us, so that whether we still live or sleep we may live in fellowship with Him.

¹⁰ and with a completely wicked deception for men who are on the way to destruction, because they refused to love the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ This is why God sends them a misleading influence till they actually believe what is false, ¹² so that all who have refused to believe the truth but have chosen unrighteousness instead might be condemned.

¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every wicked work and save me to His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹³ while we are waiting for the realization of our blessed hope at the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus,

³ He is the reflection of God's glory and the perfect representation of His being, and continues to uphold the universe by His mighty word. After He had procured man's purification from sins, He took His seat at the right hand of God's majesty,

² For if the message spoken through angels proved to be valid, and every violation and infraction of it had its adequate penalty,

⁹ Where your forefathers found I stood their test, because they saw my works for forty years,

¹⁵ and yet the warning continues to be spoken: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts as they did in provoking me." ¹⁶ For who was it that heard and yet provoked Him? Was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ With whom was He disgusted forty years? Was it not with those who had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the desert?

⁸ For if Joshua had really given them rest, He would not afterward have been speaking of another day.

¹² For God's message is alive and full of power in action, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the depths of soul and spirit, to the dividing of joints and marrow, and passing judgment on the thoughts and purposes of the heart.

¹² For although you ought to be teachers of others because you have been Christians so long, you actually need someone to teach you over and over again the very elements of the truths that God has given us, and you have gotten into such a state that you are in constant need of milk instead of solid food.

⁴ Now see how great this man must have been that even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of his spoils.

¹ Now the main point in what I am saying is this: We have such a High Priest as this, one who has taken His seat at the right hand of God's majestic throne in heaven ² as officiating Priest in that sanctuary, which is also the true tent of worship, which the Lord and not man set up.

⁵ and yet they officiate in a sanctuary that is a mere copy and shadow of the heavenly one, as Moses, when he was about to make the tent of worship, was warned, for, said He, "See to it that you make it all just like the pattern shown you on the mountain."

⁹ Unlike the one that I made with their forefathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide by their covenant with me, so I did not care for them,' says the Lord.

⁸ By faith Abraham, on being called, obeyed in starting off for a country which he was to receive as his own, and he did it in spite of the fact that he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his temporary home in the land that God had promised him, although a land inhabited by others, living merely in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were to share the promise with him. ¹⁰ For he was confidently looking forward to that city with the solid foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹³ These people all died victoriously as a result of their faith, although they did not receive the blessings promised; that is, because they really saw them in the far-off future and welcomed them, and so professed to be only foreigners and strangers here on earth. ¹⁴ For people who make such a profession as this show that they are in search of a country of their own. ¹⁵ And if they had been cherishing the memory of the country they had left, they would have had an opportunity to go back. ¹⁶ But in reality they were aspiring for a better country, I mean, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

¹⁶ But in reality they were aspiring for a better country, I mean, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when about to die, put his blessing on each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, at the closing of his life, made mention of the future migration of the Israelites, and gave directions what to do with his body. ²³ By faith, Moses, at his birth was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's decree. ²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter,

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ because he preferred to suffer hardships with the people of God than to have the passing enjoyment that results from sin, ²⁶ and thought the reproach endured for the Christ was greater wealth than all the treasures in Egypt, for he kept his eye upon the reward.

¹² So Jesus, too, in order to purify the people by His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ Let us, therefore, go to Him outside the camp, enduring the reproach that He endured;

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or changing shadow.

¹¹ See how we call those who thus endured happy! You have heard how patiently Job endured and have seen how the Lord finally blessed him, because the Lord is tenderhearted and merciful.

¹¹ earnestly trying to find out the time, and the nature of the times, which the Spirit of the Christ within them pointed to, in foretelling the sufferings of the Christ and the glory that should follow them.

¹¹ If anyone is preaching, let him do it as one who utters the oracles of God; if anyone is rendering any service to others, let him do it with all the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁷ For when He received such honor and glory from God the Father, when from the majestic glory there was borne to Him a voice like this, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I take delight," ¹⁸ we heard this voice ourselves borne from heaven while we were with Him on that sacred mountain.

⁸ But you must avoid forgetting this one fact, dearly beloved, that with the Lord a single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, in the sense in which some think of slowness, but He is really dealing patiently with you, because He is not willing for any to perish but for all to have an opportunity to repent?

¹ My dear children, I am writing you this so that you may not sin; yet if anyone ever sins, we have One who pleads our case with the Father, Jesus Christ, One who is righteous.

¹¹ it is so because the message that you have heard from the beginning is this: We should love one another. ¹² We must not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and butchered his brother. And why did he butcher him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's upright. ¹³ You must not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love our brothers. Whoever does not continue to love continues still in death. ¹⁵ Anyone who keeps on hating his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer can have eternal life remaining in him.

¹⁷ So when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He laid His right hand upon me and said: "Do not be afraid any more. I am the First and the Last;

⁷ "To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The Holy and True One, who carries the keys of David, who opens and no one can shut, who shuts and no one can open, speaks as follows:

²¹ I will give to him who conquers the privilege of taking his seat with me on my throne, just as I have conquered and taken my seat with my Father on His throne.

¹ After this I had another vision: A door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice, like a trumpet, that I had heard speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place."

¹ After this I had another vision: A door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice, like a trumpet, that I had heard speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place." ² Immediately I was under the Spirit's power, and I saw a throne in heaven with One seated on it. ³ The One who was seated on it looked like jasper or sardius, and around the throne there was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.

¹¹ "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to have ascribed to you the glory, honor, and power; for you created everything, And since you willed it so, they came into existence and were created."

¹² saying in a loud voice: "The Lamb that was slaughtered deserves to receive power, riches, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing." ¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, underneath the earth, and on the sea, and all that they contain, say: "Blessing, honor, glory, and power be to Him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb forever."

¹⁴ I answered him, "You know, my lord." He said to me: "These are the people who are coming through the great persecution, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

²⁰ But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works their hands had done, so as to give up worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot either see or hear or move;

¹⁹ Then the doors of God's temple in heaven were thrown open, and inside the temple was seen the chest containing God's covenant, and there followed flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and heavy hail.

⁴ His tail was dragging after it a third part of the stars of heaven and dashed them down upon the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth to a child, in order to devour her child as soon as it was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child who is going to rule all the nations with a scepter of iron; and the child was caught up to God, to His throne.

³ And they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and wonderful are your works, Lord God, Almighty One; upright and true your ways, O King of the ages.

¹⁷ For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by giving up their authority to the wild beast until God's words are carried out.

¹⁰ Then I fell before his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must take care not to do that. I am only a fellow-slave of yours and of your brothers who hold to the testimony borne by Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony borne by Jesus is the inspiring spirit of prophecy." ¹¹ Then I saw heaven thrown open and a white horse appeared. His rider was called Faithful and True, and in justice He passes judgment and wages war.

¹¹ and it continued to retain the glory of God. The luster of it was like a very precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal.