Luke Cross References - Williams

¹ Since many writers have undertaken to compose narratives about the facts established among us, ² just as the original eyewitnesses who became ministers of the message ³ have handed them down to us, I too, most excellent Theophilus, because I have carefully investigated them all from the start, have felt impressed to write them out in order for you ⁴ that you may better know the certainty of those things that you have been taught. ⁵ In the days when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest whose name was Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah. His wife was also a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ Now they were both upright in the sight of God, walking without reproach in all the Lord's commands and requirements. ⁷ And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both of them were far advanced in years. ⁸ Once when he was acting as priest before God, when his division was on duty, it fell to his lot, ⁹ in accordance with the priests' customs, to go into the sanctuary of the Lord to burn the incense, ¹⁰ while all the throng of people were praying outside at the hour of the incense burning. ¹¹ In the meantime, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was agitated, even overwhelmed with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you must name him John. ¹⁴ This will bring you gladness and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must drink no wine nor strong drink, and so he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his birth. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of Israel's descendants to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He will go before Him in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the upright, to make ready for the Lord a people perfectly prepared." ¹⁸ Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in years." ¹⁹ The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel; I stand in the very presence of God. I have been sent to talk with you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ Now you will keep silent and be unable to talk until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I told you, for it will be fulfilled at the proper time." ²¹ Meanwhile the people kept waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the sanctuary. ²² But when he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. Meanwhile he kept on making signs to them, and remained dumb. ²³ But when the period of his service was over, he went back to his home. ²⁴ So after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, ²⁵ "This is what the Lord has done for me when He smiled upon me to take away my disgrace among men." ²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin there engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ So the angel came to her home and said, "Congratulations, you highly favored woman! The Lord be with you!" ²⁹ But she was agitated at what he said, and began to ponder what this greeting meant. ³⁰ Then the angel said, "Stop being afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ Listen! You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you must name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His forefather David, ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His reign will have no end." ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" ³⁵ Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God. ³⁶ And listen! your relative, Elizabeth, has herself too become pregnant, although she is old, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing is ever impossible for God." ³⁸ Then Mary said, "I am the Lord's slave. May what you say take place with me." Then the angel left her. ³⁹ Now in those days Mary got up and hurried off to the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰ and she went to Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and with a loud shout she said: "Blessed are you among women, And blessed is your child! ⁴³ Why is this privilege mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me? ⁴⁴ For as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy within me! ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed, for what is promised to her by the Lord will be fulfilled." ⁴⁶ Then Mary said: "My soul extols the Lord; ⁴⁷ my spirit exults in God my Saviour; ⁴⁸ for He has smiled upon His slave in her lowly station, for from this day all ages will count me happy! ⁴⁹ For the Almighty has done wonders for me, and holy is His name! ⁵⁰ He shows His mercy from age to age to those who fear him. ⁵¹ He has done mighty deeds with His arm. He has scattered those that are proud in the purpose of their hearts. ⁵² He has dethroned monarchs and exalted the poor. ⁵³ He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. ⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, so as to remember mercy, ⁵⁵ as He promised our forefathers, Abraham and his descendants forever." ⁵⁶ Now Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned home. ⁵⁷ So it was time for Elizabeth to bear a child, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and so they were rejoicing with her. ⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they tried to name him Zechariah, after his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother said, "Never! But he must be named John." ⁶¹ Then they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that bears that name." ⁶² So they began to make signs to his father to find out what he might wish him to be named. ⁶³ Then he asked for a writing-tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all astonished. ⁶⁴ Then the use of his voice and tongue was at once restored,: and he began to speak, and continued to praise God. ⁶⁵ And all the neighbors were overwhelmed with awe, and all over the hill country of Judea these things were being talked, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷ Now his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he uttered the following prophecy: ⁶⁸ "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has come and brought His people deliverance; ⁶⁹ and He has made a mighty Saviour for us in the house of His servant David, ⁷⁰ "as He promised by the lips of His ancient prophets, ⁷¹ deliverance from our foes and from the hands of all who hate us, ⁷² to show mercy to our forefathers, and carry out His sacred covenant, ⁷³ the oath which He swore to our forefather Abraham, ⁷⁴ to grant us deliverance from the dreaded hand of our foes, so that we could serve Him ⁷⁵ in holiness and uprightness In His own presence all our days. ⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to make ready His ways, ⁷⁷ to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. ⁷⁸ Because the heart of our God is merciful. And so the day will dawn upon us from on high, ⁷⁹ to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." ⁸⁰ Now the child continued to grow and to gain strength in the Spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day when he announced himself to Israel.

³¹ But these have been recorded, in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life, as bearers of His name.

¹ I wrote my first volume, Theophilus, about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning ² up to the day when through the Holy Spirit He gave the apostles whom He had chosen their orders, and then was taken up to heaven. ³ After He had suffered, He had shown Himself alive to them, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them through a period of forty days, and telling them the things about the kingdom of God.

¹⁶ Undoubtedly the mystery of our religion is a great wonder: "He was made visible in human form; He was vindicated by the Spirit; He was seen by angels; He was proclaimed among the heathen; He was trusted in throughout the world; He was taken up to glory."

¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that the message preached by me might have its full effect and all the heathen might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's jaws.

¹⁶ For it was not mere stories of fancy that we followed when we told you of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of His majesty. 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. ¹⁹ So we have the message of the prophets more certainly guaranteed. Please pay attention to this message as to a lamp that is shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;

¹ The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ The message is what the sower sows.

⁴⁸ you are to continue as witnesses to these things.

²⁷ And you too are to bear testimony to me, because you have been with me from the start."

³ After He had suffered, He had shown Himself alive to them, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them through a period of forty days, and telling them the things about the kingdom of God.

⁸ but you are going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you must be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth."

²¹ "So one of these men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, ²² from the time of His baptism by John down to the day when He was taken up from us, must be added to our number as a witness to His resurrection."

²⁰ for we cannot keep from telling what we have seen and heard."

³⁹ We are witnesses of everything that He did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Yet they murdered Him by hanging Him upon a tree. ⁴⁰ But God raised Him to life on the third day, and permitted Him to be dearly seen, ⁴¹ not by all the people but by witnesses whom God had beforehand appointed, namely, by us who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from the dead.

¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you my servant and a witness to me of the things which you have seen and those which I shall yet enable you to see.

¹⁶ in making me a minister of Christ Jesus to the heathen peoples, to have me act as a sacrificing minister of the good news, in order that my offering of the heathen peoples to God may be acceptable, consecrated by the Holy Spirit.

¹ As for us apostles, men ought to think of us as ministers of Christ and trustees to handle God's uncovered truths.

⁷ for which I was called to serve in accordance with the gift of God's unmerited favor which was bestowed on me by the exercise of His power-- ⁸ yes, on me, the very least of all His people, this unmerited favor was bestowed -- that I might preach as good news to the heathen the boundless riches of Christ,

¹¹ And He has given some men to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, ¹² for the immediate equipment of God's people for the work of service, for the ultimate building up of the body of Christ,

²³ if indeed you continue well grounded and firm in faith and never shift from the hope inspired by the good news you heard, which has been preached all over the world, and of which I, Paul, have been made a minister. ²⁴ I am now glad to be suffering for you, and in my own person I am filling in what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for His body, that is, the church. ²⁵ In it I have been made a minister in accordance with the trusteeship God entrusted to me for you, that I might prove among you the universal message of God,

³ how can we escape, if we pay no attention at all to a salvation that is so great? This is so because it was first proclaimed by the Lord Himself, and then it was proved to us to be valid by the very men who heard Him themselves,

¹ So, as a joint-elder with them, a witness of the suffering borne by Christ, and a sharer of the glory that is to be uncovered, I beg the elders among you,

¹⁶ For it was not mere stories of fancy that we followed when we told you of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of His majesty.

¹ It is what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have beheld, what our own hands have touched, about the very message of life -- ² and that life has been unveiled to us, and we have seen it and now testify to it and we now announce it to you, yea, the eternal life that was with the Father and has been unveiled to us. ³ I repeat, it is what we have seen and heard that we now announce to you, so that you too may share this fellowship with us, for this fellowship that we have is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ;

¹ Since many writers have undertaken to compose narratives about the facts established among us,

¹ I wrote my first volume, Theophilus, about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning

⁴ Then Peter explained the whole matter to them from beginning to end. He said,

¹⁹ So I give it as my opinion, we ought not to put difficulties in the way of the heathen who turn to God,

²⁵ we have passed a unanimous resolution to select and send messengers to you with our beloved brothers Barnabas and Paul,

²⁸ For the Holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but these essential requirements,

²⁶ "Claudius Lysias sends greetings to his Excellency Felix, the governor.

³ we always and everywhere acknowledge it with profound gratitude.

²⁵ Paul answered, "I am not going crazy, your Excellency, Festus, but I am telling the straight truth.

⁴⁰ But in my opinion she will be happier, if she remains as she is, and I think too that I have God's Spirit.

¹² As for our brother Apollos, I have earnestly urged him to go to see you, but he is not at all inclined to come just now; yet he is coming when he has a good opportunity.

²⁵ He had been instructed about the way of the Lord, and with spiritual fervor he was speaking and was accurately teaching some details about Jesus, although he knew of no baptism but John's.

¹⁸ and understand His will, and by being instructed in the law can know the things that excel,

¹⁹ But in the public congregation I would rather speak five words with my mind in action, in order to instruct the people too, than ten thousand words in ecstasy.

⁶ Those who are taught the truth should share all their goods with the man who teaches them.

¹⁵ Yes, I will be in earnest, so that every time you have occasion, after I have gone away, you may call these things to mind. ¹⁶ For it was not mere stories of fancy that we followed when we told you of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of His majesty.

¹ Now when Jesus was born at Bethlehem in Judea in the days of King Herod, stargazers came from the East to Jerusalem

¹⁵ Then He said to them, "You are the men who exhibit your uprightness before the public, but God knows your hearts. For what stands high in the sight of men is detestable in the sight of God.

¹ Paul fixed his eyes upon the council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty to God up to this very day."

¹⁶ So I am always striving to have a conscience that is clear before God and men.

⁹ What is our conclusion then? Is it that we Jews are better than they? Not at all! For we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under the sway of sin, ¹⁰ as the Scriptures say: "Not a single human creature is upright, ¹¹ No one understands, no one is searching for God; ¹² They all have turned aside, all have become corrupt; No one does good, not even one! ¹³ Their throats are just like open graves, with their tongues they have spoken treachery; the poison of asps is under their lips. ¹⁴ Their mouths are full of bitter cursing. ¹⁵ Their feet are swift for shedding blood, ¹⁶ Ruin and wretchedness are on their paths, ¹⁷ They do not know the way of peace. ¹⁸ There is no reverence for God before their eyes." ¹⁹ Now we know that everything the law says is spoken to those who are under its authority, that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be held responsible to God. ²⁰ Because no human creature can be brought into right standing with God by observing the law. For all the law can do is to make men conscious of sin. ²¹ But now God's way of giving men right standing with Himself has come to light; a way without connection with the law, and yet a way to which the law and the prophets testify. ²² God's own way of giving men right standing with Himself is through faith in Jesus Christ. It is for everybody who has faith, for no distinction at all is made. ²³ For everybody has sinned and everybody continues to come short of God's glory, ²⁴ but anybody may have right standing with God as a free gift of His undeserved favor, through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ For God once publicly offered Him in His death as a sacrifice of reconciliation through faith, to demonstrate His own justice (for in His forbearance God had passed over men's former sins);

² I prize and praise you for always remembering me and for firmly standing by the teachings as I passed them on to you.

¹² For my boast is this, to which my conscience testifies, that before the world, but especially before you, I have acted from pure motives and in sincerity before God, not depending on worldly wisdom but on God's unmerited favor.

¹⁵ so that you may prove to be blameless and spotless, faultless children of God in a crooked and perverted age, in which you shine as light-bearers in the world as you continue

⁶ by the standard set by zeal, I was a persecutor of the church, and measured by the uprightness reached by keeping the law, I was faultless. ⁷ But for Christ's sake I have counted all that was gain to me as loss. ⁸ Yes, indeed, I certainly do count everything as loss compared with the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have lost everything, and value it all as mere refuse, in order to gain Christ ⁹ and be actually in union with Him, not having a supposed right standing with God which depends on my doing what the law commands, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the real right standing with God which originates from Him and rests on faith.

²² by His death in His human body, so as to present you consecrated, faultless, and blameless in His presence,

¹³ so that He may strengthen your hearts to be faultless in purity in the sight of God, when our Lord Jesus comes back with all His consecrated ones.

¹¹ For God's favor has appeared with its offer of salvation to all mankind, ¹² training us to give up godless ways and worldly cravings and live serious, upright, and godly lives in this world, ¹³ while we are waiting for the realization of our blessed hope at the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to ransom us from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people to be His very own, zealous of good works.

³ For once we too were without understanding, disobedient, misled, habitual slaves to all sorts of passions and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy. ⁴ But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Saviour were brought to light, ⁵ He saved us, not for upright deeds that we had done, but in accordance with His mercy, through the bath of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ which He abundantly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ⁷ so that we might come into right standing with God through His unmerited favor and become heirs of eternal life in accordance with our hope.

¹⁴ Therefore, dearly beloved, since you are expecting this, be in earnest to be found by Him without a blot, without reproach, and at peace.

³ By this we can be sure that we know Him -- if we practice obedience to His commands.

²⁹ If you know that He is upright, you must know that everyone who practices uprightness is born of Him.

⁷ Dear children, avoid letting anyone lead you astray. Whoever practices doing right is upright, just as He is upright.

¹⁹ Because he never weakened in faith, he calmly contemplated his own vital powers as worn out (for he was about one hundred years old) and the inability of Sarah to bear a child,

¹¹ By faith Sarah received strength to become pregnant, and actually gave birth to a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought that He who made her the promise was to be trusted.

⁵ In the days when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest whose name was Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah. His wife was also a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶ With these arrangements completed in this way, the priests in conducting their official services regularly go into the outer part of the tent of worship;

¹⁴ Since then we have in Jesus, the Son of God, a great High Priest who has gone right up to heaven itself, let us continue to keep a firm hold on our profession of faith in Him.

²⁴ For it was not a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, that Christ entered, but it was into heaven itself that He went, in order now to appear for us in the very presence of God.

³ Then another angel with a censer of gold came and stood at the altar, and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mingle with the prayers of all God's people, on the altar of gold that stood before the throne.

¹⁹ The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel; I stand in the very presence of God. I have been sent to talk with you and to tell you this good news.

²⁸ So the angel came to her home and said, "Congratulations, you highly favored woman! The Lord be with you!"

¹⁰ But the angel said to them: "Stop being afraid, for now I bring you good tidings of great joy which is to be for all the people;

¹⁹ But in the night the angel of the Lord threw open the jail doors and let them out, and said to them,

³ One afternoon about three o'clock he had a vision and clearly saw an angel of God come to him and say, "Cornelius!" ⁴ He stared at him and in terror asked, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered him, "Your prayers and your deeds of charity have gone up and been remembered before God.

¹⁴ Are not the angels all attending spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are going to be unceasing possessors of salvation?

³ Then another angel with a censer of gold came and stood at the altar, and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mingle with the prayers of all God's people, on the altar of gold that stood before the throne. ⁴ So the smoke of the incense went up from the angel's hand to the presence of God for the prayers of His people.

¹³ Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the corners of the altar of gold that was before God

⁵ And when they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting at the right; and they were utterly astounded.

²⁹ But she was agitated at what he said, and began to ponder what this greeting meant.

⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, so that they were fearfully frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them: "Stop being afraid, for now I bring you good tidings of great joy which is to be for all the people;

⁴ He stared at him and in terror asked, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered him, "Your prayers and your deeds of charity have gone up and been remembered before God.

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;

²¹ And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."

²⁷ Then Jesus at once spoke to them, "Be men of courage! It is I; stop being afraid."

⁵ And the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

⁶ But he said to them, "You must not be so astounded; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See! Here is the spot where they laid Him.

³⁰ Then the angel said, "Stop being afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

⁶⁰ But his mother said, "Never! But he must be named John." ⁶¹ Then they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that bears that name." ⁶² So they began to make signs to his father to find out what he might wish him to be named. ⁶³ Then he asked for a writing-tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all astonished.

²¹ When He was eight days old and it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before Mary had conceived Him.

³⁶ Even while they were talking about these things, He took His stand among them Himself, [and said to them, "Peace to you!"] ³⁷ and they were so startled and terror-stricken that they were beginning to think that they saw a ghost. ³⁸ But He said to them, "Why are you so disturbed and why are doubts arising in your hearts? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet, for it is I, myself. Feel of me and see for yourselves, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." ⁴⁰ [After He had said this He showed them His hands and His feet.]

³¹ and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your deeds of charity have been remembered by God.

⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and so they were rejoicing with her.

⁹ If not, why did you go out there? To see a prophet? ¹⁰ This is the man of whom the Scripture says, "'Attention! I am sending my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.' ¹¹ "I solemnly say to you, of all men born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has ever appeared; and yet the one who is least important in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until the present moment the kingdom of heaven has been continuously taken by storm, and those who take it by storm are seizing it as a precious prize. ¹³ For up to the days of John all the prophets, and even the law, prophesied about it, ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, John himself is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ Let him who has ears listen! ¹⁶ "But to what can I compare the leaders of this age? They are like little children sitting in the market places and calling to their fellows in the game, ¹⁷ "'We played the wedding march for you, but you did not dance. We sang the funeral dirge, but you did not beat your breasts.' ¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking with others, and yet they said, 'He has a demon.' ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking with others, and they say, 'Just look at Him! A glutton and a wine-drinker, a chum of tax-collectors and notorious sinners!' And yet wisdom is vindicated by her doings!"

²⁸ "I tell you, of all men born of women there is not one greater than John; and yet the one who is of least importance in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

³³ "For John the Baptist came eating no bread and drinking no wine, and yet you say, 'He has a demon!'

³⁵ John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining, and you decided for a time to delight yourselves in his light.

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.

¹⁴ Then Peter stood with the Eleven around him, and raising his voice he addressed them, "Men of Judea and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and give close attention to my words. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ 'It will occur in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will have visions. Your old men will have dreams. ¹⁸ Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will become prophets.

¹⁵ But when God, who had already set me apart from my birth, and had called me by His unmerited favor,

¹⁸ Stop getting drunk on wine, for that means profligacy, but ever be filled with the Spirit,

¹ In those days John the Baptist appeared, and kept preaching in the desert of Judea, ² and saying, "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near." ³ This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'" ⁴ This very John had his clothing made of camel's hair, and wore a leather belt around his waist; his food was dried locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea, even the whole Jordan district, continued to go out to him ⁶ and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, as one by one they continued to confess their sins.

³² For John came to you walking in the way of uprightness, and yet you did not believe him. The tax-collectors and prostitutes did believe him, but you, even though you saw that, would not change your minds afterward and believe him.

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to make ready His ways,

⁴ This very John had his clothing made of camel's hair, and wore a leather belt around his waist; his food was dried locusts and wild honey.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming? ⁸ Produce, then, fruit that is consistent with the repentance you profess, ⁹ and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather? For I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones. ¹⁰ Now the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Every tree then that fails to bear good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ I am baptizing you in water to picture your repentance. But He that is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not fit to carry His shoes. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire; ¹² His winnowing-fork is in His hand, and He will clean out His threshing-floor and store His wheat in His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with fire that never can be put out."

¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, John himself is the Elijah who was to come.

⁴ for John had said to him, "It is not right for you to have her as wife."

¹¹ He answered, "Elijah does come and will get everything ready. ¹² But I say to you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but treated him as they pleased. Just so the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

²⁹ And he answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. ³⁰ Then he came to the second and said the same thing. And he answered, 'I will not.' But afterward he changed his mind and went. ³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?" They answered, "The second one." Jesus said to them, "I solemnly say to you, the tax-collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of heaven ahead of you. ³² For John came to you walking in the way of uprightness, and yet you did not believe him. The tax-collectors and prostitutes did believe him, but you, even though you saw that, would not change your minds afterward and believe him.

¹¹ Then they asked Him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?" ¹² He answered them, "Elijah does come first and gets everything ready, but how is it that the Scripture says about the Son of Man that He will suffer much and be rejected? ¹³ But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and people treated him just as they pleased, as the Scripture says about him."

¹⁶ And he will turn many of Israel's descendants to the Lord their God.

⁷ So he used to say to the crowds that continued to come out there to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming? ⁸ Produce, then, fruit that is consistent with the repentance that you profess, and do not even begin to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones. ⁹ Now the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Every tree, then, that fails to bear good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire." ¹⁰ So the crowds were asking him this question, "What then ought we to do?" ¹¹ He answered them, "The man who has two shirts must share with him who has none, and the man who has food must do the same." ¹² Then even the tax-collectors came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what ought we to do?" ¹³ So he said to them, "Stop collecting any more than is prescribed for you." ¹⁴ Then some soldiers too were asking him, "What ought we too to do?" So he said to them, "Never extort money from anyone, never make a false accusation, and always be satisfied with your wages."

¹³ who were born of God and not of natural blood nor of physical or human impulse.

²¹ So they asked him again, "What are you then? Elijah?" And he answered, "Of course, I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." ²² Then they said to him, "Who are you? Tell us, so that we can have an answer to give to those who sent us. What have you to say for yourself?" ²³ He said, "I am a voice of one shouting in the desert, 'Make the road straight for the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." ²⁴ Now the messengers belonged to the party of the Pharisees; ²⁵ so they asked him, "Why are you baptizing then, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" ²⁶ John answered them, "I am baptizing only in water. There is standing among you One with whom you are not acquainted. ²⁷ He is to become my successor, because He has been put before me, and I am not fit to untie His shoestrings." ²⁸ This took place at Bethany on the farther side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, "Look! He is the Lamb of God who is to take away the world's sin. ³⁰ This is the One about whom I said, 'After me there is coming a man who has already been put before me, because He existed before me.'

³⁴ I did see it; and my testimony is that He is the Son of God."

²⁸ You can bear testimony to me yourselves that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent as His announcer.'

³³ So at once I sent for you, and you have been kind enough to come. So now we are all here in God's presence to listen to anything that the Lord has commanded you to say."

²³ so as to make known the riches of His glory for the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in ages past to share His glory --

⁹ Do you not know that wrongdoers will not have a share in the kingdom of God? Stop being misled; people who are sexually immoral or idolaters or adulterers or sensual or guilty of unnatural sexual vice ¹⁰ or thieves or greedy graspers for more or drunkards or slanderers or swindlers will not have a share in the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And these are just the characters some of you used to be. But now you have washed yourselves clean, you have been consecrated, you are now in right standing with God, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.

¹² and you will always be thanking the Father who has qualified you to share the lot of His people in the realm of light.

²¹ So if a man will cleanse himself from these things, he will be an instrument for honorable uses, consecrated, useful for the Master, and ready for any good service.

⁹ But you are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, the people to be His very own, to proclaim the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

¹¹ If all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what men you ought to be! What holy and pious lives you ought to lead, ¹² since you are awaiting and hastening the coming of the day of God, which will cause the heavens to blaze and dissolve and the heavenly bodies to burn up and melt away! ¹³ In accordance with His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which uprightness will have its permanent home. ¹⁴ Therefore, dearly beloved, since you are expecting this, be in earnest to be found by Him without a blot, without reproach, and at peace.

²⁸ And now, dear children, I repeat, you must continue to live in union with Him, so that if He is unveiled, we may have unshaken confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame when He comes.

⁴ Then I saw thrones and those who were seated on them, and permission was granted them to pass judgment, even those who had been beheaded for bearing testimony to Jesus and for preaching the word of God, who refused to worship the wild beast and his statue, and would not let his mark be stamped upon their foreheads and upon their hands. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

⁷ And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both of them were far advanced in years.

³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?"

¹⁰ "Be careful not to look with scorn on a single one of these little children, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have uninterrupted access to my Father in heaven.

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

¹⁹ He answered them, "Oh, you unbelieving people of the times! How long must I be with you! How long must I put up with you! Bring him to me."

¹⁴ Later on He appeared to the Eleven themselves while they were at table, and reproved them for their lack of faith and their stubbornness, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had been raised from the dead.

²² But when he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. Meanwhile he kept on making signs to them, and remained dumb.

⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed, for what is promised to her by the Lord will be fulfilled."

³ What then, if some of them have proved unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness make null and void God's faithfulness?

¹³ If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot prove false to Himself."

² in the hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago

¹⁸ so that by these two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge with Him may have encouragement strong enough to make us seize upon the hope that lies ahead of us.

¹⁹ The people whom I dearly love, I always reprove and discipline. So keep on being earnest and once for all repent.

⁶² So they began to make signs to his father to find out what he might wish him to be named.

²⁴ So Simon Peter nodded to him to ask Him which one it was that He meant.

¹⁷ With his hand he motioned to them to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, "Tell all these things to James and the brothers." Then he left them and went somewhere else.

³³ Some of the crowd concluded that it was Alexander, since the Jews had pushed him to the front, and since Alexander had made a gesture of the hand as though he would make a defense before the people.

⁴⁰ He granted the request, and Paul, as he was standing on the steps, made a gesture to the people, and after everybody had quieted down, he spoke to them in Hebrew as follows:

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

²³ He went to a town called Nazareth and made his home there, so that the saying of the prophet was fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."

⁴ And Joseph too went up from Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to the town of David in Judea called Bethlehem, because he was a descendant of the house and family of David,

⁴⁵ Philip sought out Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found the One about whom Moses wrote in the law and the One about whom the prophets wrote; it is Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazareth." ⁴⁶ Then Nathaniel said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

⁴¹ Others said, "This is the Christ." But still others said, "The Christ does not come from Galilee, does He?

¹⁶ Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus who is called the Christ.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Christ Jesus occurred under these conditions: After His mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before they had lived together, she was found to be an expectant mother through the influence of the Holy Spirit.

²⁰ But just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."

²³ "The virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" -- which means "God with us."

⁴ And Joseph too went up from Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to the town of David in Judea called Bethlehem, because he was a descendant of the house and family of David, ⁵ to register with Mary who was engaged to be married to him and who was an expectant mother.

⁴⁸ But He answered the man who told Him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

⁴² and with a loud shout she said: "Blessed are you among women, And blessed is your child!

²⁷ Just as He was saying this, a woman in the crowd lifted her voice and said, "Blessed is the mother who bore you and nursed you!" ²⁸ But He said, "Yes, but better still, blessed are those who listen to God's message and practice it!"

¹⁰ because I am with you, and no one is going to attack you so as to injure you, because I have many people in this city."

⁶ so that we might praise the splendid favor which He has shown us in His beloved Son.

⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost and screamed aloud, ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were terrified. But He at once spoke to them and said, "Keep up courage! It is I; stop being afraid."

⁵ And when they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting at the right; and they were utterly astounded. ⁶ But he said to them, "You must not be so astounded; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See! Here is the spot where they laid Him.

¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was agitated, even overwhelmed with fear.

⁶⁶ and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him.

¹⁹ but Mary continued to treasure it all up and to ponder it in her heart.

⁵¹ So He went back to Nazareth with them and continued to obey them. But His mother continued to treasure up all these sayings in her heart.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was still at a loss to know what the vision he had seen could mean, the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked for the way to Simon's house and had stopped at the gate;

³² Stop being afraid, my little flock, for your Father has gladly chosen to give you the kingdom.

⁹ One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Stop being afraid, go on speaking, never give up; ¹⁰ because I am with you, and no one is going to attack you so as to injure you, because I have many people in this city."

²⁴ and said, "Stop being afraid, Paul. You must stand before the Emperor; and listen! God has graciously given to you the lives of all who are sailing with you.'

³¹ What are we then to say to facts like these? If God is for us, who can be against us?

⁶ So we can confidently say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can men do to me?"

²⁵ but he did not live with her as a husband until she had had a son; and he named Him Jesus.

²⁷ to a virgin there engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

⁴ but when the proper time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to law,

¹ The family tree of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, a descendant of Abraham.

¹¹ I am baptizing you in water to picture your repentance. But He that is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not fit to carry His shoes. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire;

⁴² The queen of the south will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for she came from the farthest limits of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here!

¹⁸ Then Jesus came up to them, and said, "Full authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

⁷ and screamed aloud, "What do you want of me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, I beg you, do not torture me."

⁶¹ But He kept silent and made no answer at all. So the high priest again questioned Him in these words, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"

¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must drink no wine nor strong drink, and so he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his birth.

³⁵ Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God.

¹⁶ John expressly answered them all, "I am baptizing you in water only, but there is coming the One who is stronger than I am, whose shoestrings I am not fit to untie. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire;

³⁵ But you must practice loving your enemies, doing good to them, and lending to them, despairing of nothing; so that your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

³⁵ The Father loves His Son and has put everything in His hands. ³⁶ Whoever trusts in the Son possesses eternal life, but whoever refuses to trust in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God continues to remain on him.

²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and makes them live on, so the Son too makes alive any whom He chooses to. 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. ²⁸ Stop being surprised at this, for the time is coming when all that are in the graves will listen to His voice, ²⁹ and those who have done good will come out for a resurrection to life, but those who have done evil for a resurrection to condemnation.

⁶⁹ and we have come to believe, yes more, we know by experience, that you are the Holy One of God."

³⁴ The crowd answered Him, "We have learned from the law that the Christ is to remain here forever, and so how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"

³⁰ So, as he was a prophet and knew that God with an oath had promised to put one of his descendants on his throne,

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."

⁴⁸ But the Most High does not live in buildings built by human hands. As the prophet says:

¹⁷ This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation."

⁴ proved to be God's Son in power by the resurrection from the dead -- I mean, Jesus Christ, our Lord,

²⁰ when He raised Christ from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in heaven, ²¹ far above every other government, authority, power, and dominion, yea, far above every other title that can be conferred, not only in this world but in the world to come. ²² And so He has put all things under His feet and made Him the supreme Head of the church, ²³ which is His body, that is being filled by Him who fills everything everywhere.

⁹ This is why God has highly exalted Him, and given Him the name that is above every other name, ¹⁰ so that in the name of Jesus everyone should kneel, in heaven, on earth, and in the underworld, ¹¹ and everyone should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the praise of God the Father.

² but in these latter days He has spoken to us through a Son, whom He had appointed lawful owner of everything, and through whom He had made the worlds. 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, ⁴ thus proving Himself to be as much superior to angels as the title He has inherited is superior to theirs. ⁵ For to what angel did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have become your Father"? ⁶ Or again, "I will become His Father, and He shall become my Son"? But when He brings again His first-born Son into the world, He says, "And let all the angels worship Him." ⁷ However, regarding the angels He says: "He turns His angels into winds, and His attendants into flames of fire." ⁸ But regarding the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, will stand forever and ever; a righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.

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:

⁶ But it is not that God's word has failed. For not everybody that is descended from Israel really belongs to Israel,

²⁴ After that comes the end, when He will turn the kingdom over to God His Father, when He will put an end to all other government, authority, and power; ²⁵ for He must continue to be king until He puts all His enemies under His feet.

²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are real descendants of Abraham, and heirs in accordance with the promise made to him.

¹⁶ Now peace and mercy be on all who walk by this rule; that is, on the true Israel of God.

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,

⁸ But regarding the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, will stand forever and ever; a righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and loud voices were heard in heaven, saying, "The sovereignty of the world has come into the possession of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever."

⁴ Then I saw thrones and those who were seated on them, and permission was granted them to pass judgment, even those who had been beheaded for bearing testimony to Jesus and for preaching the word of God, who refused to worship the wild beast and his statue, and would not let his mark be stamped upon their foreheads and upon their hands. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years had ended. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is the man who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death will have no power, but they will be priests of God and Christ, and reign with Him the thousand years.

³ No longer will there be anything that has a curse on it. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His slaves will worship Him, ⁴ They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no night any longer; so they will need no lamplight nor sunlight, for the Lord God will give them light, and they will rule forever and ever.

⁶ But get up and go into the city, and there it will be told you what you ought to do."

²⁰ But just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother.

³ And the tempter came up and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn to bread."

³³ And the men in the boat worshiped Him, and said, "You are certainly God's Son."

⁶³ But Jesus kept silent. So the high priest said to Him, "I charge you, on your oath, in the name of the living God, tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God." 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."

⁵⁴ And the army captain and his men, who were keeping guard over Jesus, who felt the earthquake and saw all that was taking place, were terribly frightened, and said, "Surely this was God's Son."

²⁴ "What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, God's Holy One!"

³¹ Listen! You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you must name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His forefather David,

⁴⁹ Nathaniel answered Him, "Teacher, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel!"

³⁶ As they continued down the road, they came to some water, and the official said, "Look! here is some water! What is there to keep me from being baptized?"

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I myself no longer live, but Christ is living in me; the life I now live as a mortal man I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

³ once lived while gratifying the cravings of our lower nature, as we continued to carry out the impulses of our lower nature and its thoughts, and by nature we were exposed to God's wrath, as the rest of mankind.

¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who is incapable of sympathizing with us in our weaknesses, but we have One who was tempted in every respect as we are, and yet without committing any sin.

²⁶ For we needed such a High Priest, holy, innocent, unstained, far removed from sinful men, and elevated far above the very heavens, ²⁷ who does not need, as did the Levitical priests, to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; this latter is just what He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints imperfect men as high priests, but the assertion about the taking of an oath, which was spoken after the time of the law, appoints a Son who is perfectly qualified to be High Priest forever.

²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, "This is impossible for men, but anything is possible for God."

²⁷ But Jesus looked at them and said, "This is impossible for men, but everything is possible for God."

²⁷ So He said, "The things impossible for men are possible for God."

²¹ He will so change the outward appearance of our lowly bodies that they will be like His glorious body, by the exertion of the power He has to subject everything to Himself.

²⁰ and yet he never staggered in doubt at the promise of God but grew powerful in faith, because he gave the glory to God ²¹ in full assurance that He was able to do what He had promised.

⁶⁵ And all the neighbors were overwhelmed with awe, and all over the hill country of Judea these things were being talked,

⁴⁴ For as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy within me!

⁶⁷ Now his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he uttered the following prophecy:

¹ Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and for forty days He was led about in the desert under the Spirit's guidance,

⁸ Then Peter, because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Leaders and elders of the people,

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,

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.

¹⁰ On the Lord's day I was in the Spirit's power, and I heard a voice like a trumpet behind me say:

⁴⁸ for He has smiled upon His slave in her lowly station, for from this day all ages will count me happy!

³⁸ and said: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and praise on high!"

²⁶ So my heart is glad and my tongue exults, and my body still lives in hope. ²⁷ For you will not forsake my soul to Hades. Nor will you let your Holy One experience decay. ²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life, and you will fill me with delight in your presence.'

⁵ the patriarchs, and from them by natural descent the Christ has come, who is exalted over all, God blessed forever. Amen!

² keeping our eyes on Jesus, the perfect leader and example of faith, who, instead of the joy which lay before Him, endured the cross with no regard for its shame, and since has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹⁴ But John tried to prevent Him, by saying, "I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me!"

¹¹ for today, in the town of David, a Saviour for you has been born, who is to be your Messiah and Lord.

⁷ And so I did not deem myself worthy even to come to you. But simply speak the word, and let my servant-boy be cured.

⁴² For David himself in the Book of Psalms says: 'The Lord has said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, ⁴³ until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."' ⁴⁴ So David calls Him Lord, then how can He be his Son?"

⁵ Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel which was around His waist. ⁶ Thus He came to Simon Peter. Peter said to Him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" ⁷ Jesus answered him, "You do not now understand what I am doing, but by-and-by you will learn." ⁸ Peter said to Him, "You must never wash my feet!" Jesus answered, "Unless I do wash you, you can have no share with me."

¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right in calling me so, for that is what I am.

²⁸ Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and my God!"

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

⁸ Yes, indeed, I certainly do count everything as loss compared with the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have lost everything, and value it all as mere refuse, in order to gain Christ

²⁰ Now you will keep silent and be unable to talk until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I told you, for it will be fulfilled at the proper time."

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, "Did I not promise you that if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?"

²⁹ Jesus said to him, "Is it because you have seen me, Thomas, that you believe? Blessed be those who believe, even though they have not seen me!"

¹¹ And not only that, but this too: we shall continue exulting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained our reconciliation.

³¹ so that, as the Scripture says, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, for He always leads me in His triumphal train, through union with Christ, and everywhere through me keeps spreading the perfume of the knowledge of Him.

⁴ By the help of the Lord always keep up the glad spirit; yes, I will repeat it, keep up the glad spirit.

⁸ You must continue to love Him, although you have never seen Him, but because you do believe in Him, although you do not now see Him, you must continue to rejoice with an unutterable and triumphant joy,

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope,

³ This is the right thing to do and it pleases God our Saviour,

³ but at the proper time made known as His message through the message that I preach with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Saviour;

¹⁰ to stop resisting them and stealing from them, but to show such perfect fidelity as to adorn, in everything they do, the teaching of God our Saviour.

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

⁴ But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Saviour were brought to light, ⁵ He saved us, not for upright deeds that we had done, but in accordance with His mercy, through the bath of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ which He abundantly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

²⁵ to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, as it was before all time, both now and forever and ever. Amen.

²⁷ Just as He was saying this, a woman in the crowd lifted her voice and said, "Blessed is the mother who bore you and nursed you!"

²⁶ For consider, brothers, the way God called you; that not many of you, in accordance with human standards, were wise, not many influential, not many of high birth. ²⁷ Just the opposite: God chose what the world calls foolish to put the wise to shame, what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame, ²⁸ what the world calls of low degree, yea, what it counts as nothing and what it thinks does not exist, God chose to put a stop to what it thinks exists,

⁵ Listen, my dearly loved brothers. Has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But you, in contrast, have humiliated the poor man. Are not the rich men those who oppress you and drag you to court?

¹³ So He let them do so. And the foul spirits came out of the man and got into the hogs, and the drove of about two thousand rushed over the cliff and into the sea and were drowned.

²⁰ To Him who by His power that is at work within us can do surpassingly more than all we ask or imagine,

⁸ And the four living creatures have each of them six wings, and they are dotted with eyes all around and beneath the wings. And day and night they never cease saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is to come."

⁴ Who will not fear and glorify your name, O Lord? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because the justice of your sentences has now been shown."

⁵ And there came a voice from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you slaves of His who fear Him, great and small."

²¹ because, although they once knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give Him thanks, but became silly in their senseless speculations, and so their insensible hearts have been shrouded in darkness.

⁵ For I am demolishing arguments and every barrier that is raised against the genuine knowledge of God, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,

⁵ You younger men, on your part, must be submissive to the elders. And you must all put on the servant's apron of humility to one another, because God opposes the haughty but bestows His unmerited favor on the humble.

⁸ for this very reason her plagues will overtake her in a single day, death, grief, and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; because the Lord who has judged her is mighty.

³ Is He not the carpenter, Mary's son, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And do not His sisters live here among us?" And so they found a cause for stumbling over him.

¹⁴ I tell you, this man, and not the other, went back home forgiven and accepted by God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

⁹ Let the poor brother of lowly station rejoice in his exalted station as a Christian, ¹⁰ and the rich brother rejoice in his being on a level with the poor, because the rich will fade away like the flower of the grass.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you high.

⁶ "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for being and doing right, for they will be completely satisfied.

²¹ Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be completely satisfied! Blessed are you who are weeping now, for you will laugh!

²⁴ But a curse on you who are rich, for you are now receiving your comforts in full.

¹⁶ Then He told them a story, as follows: "A certain rich man's lands yielded bountifully. ¹⁷ So he began to argue with himself, 'What am I to do, because I have nowhere to store my crops?' ¹⁸ Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and in them I will store all my grains and my goods. ¹⁹ Then I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Go on taking your ease; continue to eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."' ²⁰ But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is to be demanded of you. Then who will have all that you have prepared?' ²¹ So it is with the man who continues to pile up possessions for himself, and is not rich in God."

¹⁹ "Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day. ²⁰ And a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been laid at his gate, ²¹ and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores. ²² One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to be Abraham's bosom companion, and the rich man too died and was buried. ²³ And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion. ²⁴ So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.' ²⁵ But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there.

¹¹ The Pharisee stood and said this self-centered prayer, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. ¹² I fast two days in the week. I pay a tithe on everything I get.' ¹³ But the tax-collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but continued to beat his breast, and say, 'O God, have mercy on me, a sinner!' ¹⁴ I tell you, this man, and not the other, went back home forgiven and accepted by God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

²⁴ So when Jesus saw it, He said, "How hard it is for those who have money to get into the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God."

¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks, and distributed them among the people who were sitting on the ground; so too with the fish as much as they wanted. ¹² When they had plenty, He said to His disciples, "Pick up the pieces that are left, that nothing be wasted." ¹³ So they picked them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces that were left from the five barley loaves, which were more than the eaters wanted.

³⁵ Jesus said to them, "I am the bread that gives life. Whoever comes to me will never get hungry, and whoever believes in me will never get thirsty.

²⁶ For consider, brothers, the way God called you; that not many of you, in accordance with human standards, were wise, not many influential, not many of high birth.

⁸ Are you satisfied already? Have you grown rich already? Have you ascended your thrones without us to join you? Yes, I could wish that you had ascended your thrones, that we too might join you on them!

¹ Come now, you rich people, weep aloud and howl over the miseries that are sure to overtake you. ² Your wealth has rotted, your clothes are moth-eaten, ³ your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will testify against you and devour your flesh like fire. You have stored up these things for the last days. ⁴ See, the wages that you have kept back from the laborers who reaped your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ Here on earth you have lived in luxury and self-indulgence; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the upright man; he offers no resistance.

¹⁷ Because you say, 'I am rich, I have already become rich, I need nothing,' and you do not know that you are the very one that is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked; ¹⁸ I advise you to buy of me gold that has been refined in the fire, so that you may become rich, and white clothes to put on, to hide your shameful nakedness, and salve to put on your eyes, to make you see.

¹⁶ They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and never again will the sun strike them, or any scorching heat, ¹⁷ because the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will be their Shepherd, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

⁷⁰ "as He promised by the lips of His ancient prophets, ⁷¹ deliverance from our foes and from the hands of all who hate us, ⁷² to show mercy to our forefathers, and carry out His sacred covenant, ⁷³ the oath which He swore to our forefather Abraham, ⁷⁴ to grant us deliverance from the dreaded hand of our foes, so that we could serve Him ⁷⁵ in holiness and uprightness In His own presence all our days.

²⁸ As measured by the good news the Jews are God's enemies for your sakes, but as measured by God's choice they are His beloved because of their forefathers, ²⁹ for the gracious gifts and call of God are never taken back.

¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and his descendant. It does not say, "and to your descendants," in the plural, but in the singular, "and to your descendant," that is, Christ. 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.

⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to give birth, ⁷ and she bore her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him up and laid Him in a manger, for there was no room for them at the inn.

¹⁴ This will bring you gladness and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth.

²⁵ "This is what the Lord has done for me when He smiled upon me to take away my disgrace among men."

¹⁵ Practice rejoicing with people who rejoice, and weeping with people who weep.

²⁶ If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it. If one part receives an honor, all the parts can share its joy.

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.

⁵ circumcised when I was a week old; a descendant of Israel; a member of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew, a son of Hebrews. Measured by the law, I was a Pharisee;

⁶³ Then he asked for a writing-tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all astonished.

⁶⁰ But his mother said, "Never! But he must be named John."

³³ and after the demon had been driven out, the dumb man could talk. So the crowds were dumbfounded, saying, "Never before among the Jews was anything like this?

³² And they brought to Him a man who was deaf and almost dumb, and they begged Him to lay His hand upon him. ³³ So He took him off from the crowd by himself and put His fingers in his ears and touched his tongue with saliva. ³⁴ Then He looked up to heaven and sighed, as He said, "Ephphatha," which means, "Be opened." ³⁵ And his ears were opened and his tongue was untied, and he began to speak distinctly. ³⁶ Then He charged them not to tell anybody about it, but the more He kept charging them, the more they kept spreading the news. ³⁷ So the people were overwhelmingly dumbfounded, and kept saying, "How wonderfully He has done everything! He even makes deaf people hear and dumb people talk."

³⁹ Now in those days Mary got up and hurried off to the hill country, to a town in Judah,

¹⁶ So awe seized them all, and they began to praise God, saying, "A great prophet has appeared among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"

⁴³ A sense of reverence seized everyone, and many wonders and wonder-works were done by the apostles.

⁵ When Ananias heard these words, he fell dead, and a strange awe seized everybody who heard it.

¹¹ So a strange awe seized the whole church and everybody who heard it.

¹⁷ This at once became known to everybody living in Ephesus, Greeks as well as Jews, and awe fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be held in high honor.

¹¹ After three days and a half the breath of life from God came into them again, and they stood on their feet, and consternation seized those who saw them.

⁸⁰ Now the child continued to grow and to gain strength in the Spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day when he announced himself to Israel.

⁴⁰ And the child continued to grow and gain in strength; He continued to increase in wisdom, and the spiritual blessing of God was on Him.

⁴⁴ "You must store away in your memories these words, for the Son of Man is going to be turned over to the hands of men!"

²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

²¹ for no prophecy has ever yet originated in man's will, but men who were led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

³⁸ Just at that time she came up and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were expecting the deliverance of Jerusalem.

⁴⁴ and they will throw you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know when God visited you."

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm.

⁷ It is through union with Him that we have redemption by His blood and the forgiveness of our shortcomings, in accordance with the generosity of His unmerited favor

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In accordance with His great mercy He has begotten us anew to an ever living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;

¹⁰ Blessed be the coming reign of our father David! Welcome Him from on high!"

² which long ago He promised through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ about His Son, who on the physical side became a descendant of David, and on the holy, spiritual side

¹⁶ "I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear this testimony to you for the churches. I belong to the line and family of David; I am the bright morning star."

³⁶ David himself, Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, said: 'The Lord has said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."'

²⁶ Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and thus to enter into His glory?" ²⁷ Then He began with Moses and went through all the prophets and explained to them all the passages in the Scriptures about Himself.

⁴⁴ Then He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you, that everything which is written about me in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms, had to be fulfilled."

²¹ Yet heaven must retain Him till the time for the universal restoration of which God in the early ages spoke through the lips of His holy prophets. 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.

²⁵ Because they could not agree among themselves, they started to leave, when Paul had spoken one word more: "The Holy Spirit beautifully expressed it in speaking to your forefathers through the prophet Isaiah:

² which long ago He promised through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "If you but hear His voice today,

¹² It was made known to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in their searching for these things that have already been told to you by those who through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven brought you the good news. The angels long to take a peep into these things.

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."

⁷⁴ to grant us deliverance from the dreaded hand of our foes, so that we could serve Him

⁸ Whoever practices sin belongs to the devil, because the devil has practiced sin from the beginning. This is why the Son of God appeared, to undo the devil's works.

⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel, so as to remember mercy, ⁵⁵ as He promised our forefathers, Abraham and his descendants forever."

²⁵ And you are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the sacred compact which God made with your forefathers, when He said to Abraham: 'All the families of the earth are to be blessed through your posterity.' ²⁶ It was to you first that He sent His Servant, after raising Him from the dead, to bless you by causing every one of you to turn from his wicked ways."

²⁸ As measured by the good news the Jews are God's enemies for your sakes, but as measured by God's choice they are His beloved because of their forefathers,

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.

¹³ For when God made His promise to Abraham, He took an oath by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom He could take it, ¹⁴ saying: "I will certainly bless you over and over again, I will extensively increase your numbers." ¹⁵ And so by patiently waiting he obtained what God had promised him. ¹⁶ For it is a custom among men to take oath by something greater than themselves, and an oath taken for confirmation settles any dispute among them. ¹⁷ Therefore, because God wanted to make the strongest demonstration of the unchangeable character of His purpose, He interposed with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by these two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge with Him may have encouragement strong enough to make us seize upon the hope that lies ahead of us.

¹³ For when God made His promise to Abraham, He took an oath by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom He could take it,

¹⁶ For it is a custom among men to take oath by something greater than themselves, and an oath taken for confirmation settles any dispute among them. ¹⁷ Therefore, because God wanted to make the strongest demonstration of the unchangeable character of His purpose, He interposed with an oath,

⁷¹ deliverance from our foes and from the hands of all who hate us,

²² But now, since you have been freed from sin and have become the slaves of God, the immediate result is consecration, and the final destiny is eternal life.

¹⁵ For you do not have a sense of servitude to fill you with dread again, but the consciousness of adopted sons by which we cry, "Abba," that is, "Father."

⁷ For the Spirit that God has given us does not impart timidity but power and love and self-control.

¹⁵ and set at liberty those who all their lifetime had been subject to slavery because of their dread of death.

¹⁴ how much more surely will the blood of Christ, who with an eternal Spirit gave Himself a spotless offering to God, purify your consciences from works that mean mere death, to serve the ever living God?

¹⁰ Do not be so afraid of what you are to suffer. See! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison to be tested there and for ten days to suffer pressing troubles. Each one of you must prove to be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life.

⁴ Through Him He picked us out before the creation of the world, to be consecrated and above reproach in His sight in love.

¹⁰ For He has made us what we are, because He has created us through our union with Christ Jesus for doing good deeds which He beforehand planned for us to do.

²⁴ and put on the new self which has been created in the likeness of God, which fruits in right and holy living inspired by the truth.

¹ Now, brothers, we ask and beg you, in the face of our union with the Lord Jesus, as you once received from us how you ought to live so as to please God -- as indeed you are living -- to continue to live this life better and better.

⁷ For God did not call us to a life of immorality, but to one of personal purity.

¹³ We ought always to be thanking God for you, brothers dearly loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through the Spirit's consecration of you and through your faith in the truth,

⁹ For He saved us and called us with a holy call, not in accordance with anything that we had done, but in accordance with His own purpose and unmerited favor which was shown us through union with Christ Jesus eternal ages ago,

¹⁴ As obedient children, stop molding your character by the evil desires you used to cherish when you did not know any better, ¹⁵ but in accordance with the Holy Being who has called you, you must prove to be holy too, ¹⁶ for the Scripture says: "You ought to be holy, because I am holy."

⁴ It is through these that He has given us His precious and glorious promises, so that through them, after you have escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires, you may come to share in the divine nature. ⁵ Now for this very reason you must do your level best to supplement your faith with moral character, moral character with knowledge, ⁶ knowledge with self-control, self-control with patient endurance, patient endurance with piety, ⁷ piety with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with universal love. ⁸ For if you have these qualities and they continue to increase in you, they will make you neither idle nor unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

³ This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"

⁹ If not, why did you go out there? To see a prophet? ¹⁰ This is the man of whom the Scripture says, "'Attention! I am sending my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

⁵ Although he wanted to have him killed, he was afraid of the people, for they regarded him as a prophet.

²⁶ But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the people, for they all consider John a prophet."

² As it is written in the prophet Isaiah: "Here I send my messenger ahead of you; He will prepare your way. ³ He is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; make the paths straight for Him.'"

³² On the other hand, can we say, 'It was from men'?" For they were afraid of the people, because everybody thought that John was really a prophet.

¹⁶ And he will turn many of Israel's descendants to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He will go before Him in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the upright, to make ready for the Lord a people perfectly prepared."

³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His forefather David,

⁴ as it is written in the sermon-book of the prophet Isaiah: "Here is a voice of one shouting in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord, make the paths straight for Him. ⁵ Every ravine must be filled up, and every mountain and hill leveled down; the crooked places must become straight roads, and the rough roads must be made smooth, ⁶ And all mankind must see the salvation of God.'"

²⁷ This is the man of whom the Scripture says: "'Attention! I send my messenger on before you. He will prepare the road ahead of you.' ²⁸ "I tell you, of all men born of women there is not one greater than John; and yet the one who is of least importance in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

²³ He said, "I am a voice of one shouting in the desert, 'Make the road straight for the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

²⁷ He is to become my successor, because He has been put before me, and I am not fit to untie His shoestrings."

²⁴ as John, before His coming, had already preached baptism as an expression of repentance, for all the people of Israel. ²⁵ As John was closing his career, he said, 'What do you take me to be? I am not the Christ; no, but He is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the shoes on His feet.'

³ He is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; make the paths straight for Him.'" ⁴ John the Baptizer appeared in the desert and was preaching a baptism conditioned on repentance to obtain the forgiveness of sins.

³ And he went all over the Jordan valley, preaching a baptism conditioned on repentance to obtain the forgiveness of sins,

⁶ And all mankind must see the salvation of God.'"

⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her sins, as many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the one who has little to be forgiven loves me little." ⁴⁸ And He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven!" ⁴⁹ The men at the table began to say to themselves, "Who is this man, who even forgives sins?" ⁵⁰ But He said to the woman, "It is your faith that has saved you; go on in peace."

⁷ He came for the purpose of testifying, to testify to the light, so that everyone through him might come to believe. ⁸ He was not the light; he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world.

¹⁵ John testified to Him and cried out, for this was the one who said, "The One who is coming after me has been put before me, because He existed before me." ¹⁶ For from His bounty we have all received spiritual blessing after spiritual blessing. ¹⁷ For while the law was given through Moses, spiritual blessing and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, "Look! He is the Lamb of God who is to take away the world's sin.

²⁷ John answered, "A man cannot get anything, unless it is given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You can bear testimony to me yourselves that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent as His announcer.' ²⁹ It is the bridegroom who has the bride, but the bridegroom's friend, who stands outside and listens to him, is very happy to hear the bridegroom's voice. So this happiness of mine is running over. ³⁰ He must grow greater and greater, but I less and less." ³¹ He who comes from above is far above all others. He who springs from earth belongs to the earth and speaks of earth. He who comes from heaven is far above all others. ³² He continues to bear testimony to what He has actually seen and heard, and yet no one accepts His testimony. ³³ Whoever does accept His testimony has certified with a seal that God is true. ³⁴ For He whom God has sent continues to speak the words of God, for God continues to give Him the Spirit without measure.

³⁸ Peter said to them, "You must repent -- and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ -- that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,

¹⁹ So now repent and turn to Him, to have your sins wiped out, that times of revival may come from the presence of the Lord,

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.

⁴³ To this very One all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him is to receive the forgiveness of sins through His name."

³⁸ So, my brothers, you must understand that through Him the forgiveness of your sins is now proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that through union with Him every one of you who believes is given right standing with God and freed from every charge from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

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

²⁵ For God once publicly offered Him in His death as a sacrifice of reconciliation through faith, to demonstrate His own justice (for in His forbearance God had passed over men's former sins);

⁶ So David, too, describes the happiness of the man to whom God credits right standing with Himself, without the things he does having anything to do with it: ⁷ "Happy are they whose transgressions have been forgiven, whose sins were covered up; ⁸ Happy the man whose sin the Lord does not charge against him!"

¹⁶ "For God loved the world so much that He gave His Only Son, so that anyone who trusts in Him may never perish but have eternal life.

⁴ But God, who is so rich in mercy on account of the great love He has for us, ⁵ has made us, though dead because of our shortcomings, live again in fellowship with Christ -- it is by His unmerited favor that you have been saved.

¹⁴ So it is said: "Wake up, sleeper; get up from the dead, and Christ will make day dawn on you."

⁸ For God is my witness how I never stop yearning for all of you with the affection Christ Jesus inspires.

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,

¹² So as God's own chosen people, consecrated and dearly loved, you must once for all clothe yourselves with tenderheartedness, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience; you must keep on

¹⁹ So we have the message of the prophets more certainly guaranteed. Please pay attention to this message as to a lamp that is shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;

¹⁷ But if anyone has the world's means of supporting life and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how can love to God remain in him?

⁹ This is the way God's love for us has been shown, namely, God has sent His only Son into the world that we through Him might have life. ¹⁰ In this way is seen the true love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹⁶ The people that were living in darkness have seen a great light, and on those that were living in the land of the shadow of death; a light has dawned."

²⁸ Come to me, all of you who toil and carry burdens, and I, yes, I, will lead you into rest. ²⁹ Put on my yoke, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls,

³² a light of revelation to the heathen, and a glory to your people Israel."

⁹ The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world.

¹² Then Jesus again addressed them and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever continues to follow me need never walk in darkness, but he will enjoy the light that means life."

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

⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world, so that no one who continues to believe in me can remain in darkness.

¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's power to God, so as to have their sins forgiven and have a possession among those that are consecrated by faith in me.'

¹⁷ They do not know the way of peace.

⁸ For at one time you were darkness itself, but now in union with the Lord you are light itself. You must live like children of light,

⁴ But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so that that day, like a thief, should take you by surprise; ⁵ for you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.

⁵ And this is the message that we have heard from Him and now announce to you: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in Him. ⁶ If we say "We have fellowship with Him," and yet live in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we continue to live in the light, just as He is in the light, we have unbroken fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son continues to cleanse us from every sin.

¹ In those days John the Baptist appeared, and kept preaching in the desert of Judea,

⁷ But as they were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the desert to gaze at? A reed that is tossed to and fro by the wind?

⁵² Meanwhile Jesus grew constantly in wisdom and in body, and in favor with God and man.

³¹ I did not know Him myself, but I came baptizing in water, that He might be made known to Israel."