Judah had sons named Perez and Zarah, [whose mother was] Tamar. Perez had a son named Hezron; Hezron had a son named Aram;

Now Jesus was born in Bethlehem [a small town] in Judea during the time when Herod [the Great] was king [of Judea]. About that time some astrologer/sages from the east [i.e., Persia] came to Jerusalem, saying,

Even so, the Son of man did not come to be served [by others] but to be the servant [of others], and to sacrifice His life as a ransom price to purchase many people [i.e., back from Satan]."

The leading priests took the silver coins and said, "It is not permissible by the law of Moses to put this money in the Temple treasury, since it is the price [paid] for [taking] a life.

[Thus the prophecy] spoken by Jeremiah, the prophet [Note: The passage actually appears to be Zech. 11:12-13], was fulfilled which said, "And they took the thirty silver coins, the amount charged for Him on whom certain Israelites had set a price,

For the Son of man did not come to be served [by others] but to be the servant [of others], and to sacrifice His life as a ransom price for many people [i.e., to purchase them back from Satan]."

who was the son of Amminadab {{Some ancient manuscripts insert "who was the son of Admim"}}, who was the son of Arni, who was the son of Hezron, who was the son of Perez, who was the son of Judah,

and brought [only] a part of the selling price and gave it to the apostles; but the man and his wife had kept this a secret.

But Peter said to Ananias, "Why has Satan filled your heart [causing you] to deceive the Holy Spirit by keeping back part of the selling price of the land [while representing it as the full price]?

And Peter said to her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for such and such a price?" She answered, "Yes, we did."

The following men accompanied Paul as far as [the province of] Asia [where Troas was located]: Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, of Thessalonica; Gaius, of Derbe; Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from [the province of] Asia, [seven in all].

This is because no human being can be considered right with God by [obeying] the requirements of a law. [Note: It is difficult to determine the exact sense in which "law" is used in these verses. It may be law generally, or the law of Moses specifically. See Bruce, pages 52-58]. For the knowledge of what sin is comes from the law of Moses.

For I do not [really] understand what I am doing; I practice what I do not want to and I hate what I do. [Note: This highly controversial section (verses 14b-25) is here viewed as the struggles of the apostle Paul after his conversion, and by extension, of all Christians. See Bruce, pages 150ff; Murray, pages 255ff; Lard, pages 236ff].

for you were bought [by God] for a price. So, honor God with your [physical] body.

[Since] you people were bought for a price [i.e., the blood of Christ], do not become slaves to [other] people.

Do you not know that [although] everyone runs in a race, only one person wins the prize? So, you should run in order to win.

But I work out and get my body in shape [i.e., spiritually], so that after preaching to other people, I myself do not become disqualified [i.e., for winning the prize from God. See verse 24].

I am pushing onward toward the goal for the prize of the upward call [i.e., to heaven] from God in [fellowship with] Christ.

And His feet were like shiny brass, [glowing] as when it is being refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of much rushing water.

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Thyatira: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like flaming fire and feet like shiny brass:

And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, [still] did not repent of what they had made with their hands [i.e., their idolatry]. They did not stop worshiping demons, and gold, silver, brass, stone and wooden idols, which can neither see, nor hear nor walk.

goods made of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, expensive linen, purple [cloth], silk and scarlet [cloth]. [No one buys their] scented wood products, their articles made from ivory and expensive woods [i.e., furniture], their articles of brass, iron and marble.