4 Bible Verses about Christian Ministers

Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the word of the Lord came to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' helper, saying, Moses my servant is dead; so now get up! Go over Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the children of Israel. Every place on which you put your foot I have given to you, as I said to Moses. read more.
From the waste land and this mountain Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, and all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea, in the west, will be your country. While you are living, all will give way before you: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not take away my help from you or give you up. Take heart and be strong; for you will give to this people for their heritage the land which I gave by an oath to their fathers. Only take heart and be very strong; take care to do all the law which Moses my servant gave you, not turning from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may do well in all your undertakings. Let this book of the law be ever on your lips and in your thoughts day and night, so that you may keep with care everything in it; then a blessing will be on all your way, and you will do well. Have I not given you your orders? Take heart and be strong; have no fear and do not be troubled; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,

And the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's family are to be responsible for all wrongdoing in relation to the holy place: and you and your sons are to be responsible for the errors which come about in your work as priests. Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness. They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you. read more.
They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you. You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel. Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of the Tent of meeting. And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.

And the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and put your hand on him; And take him before Eleazar the priest and all the meeting of the people, and give him his orders before their eyes. And put your honour on him, so that all the children of Israel may be under his authority. read more.
He will take his place before Eleazar the priest, so that he may get directions from the Lord for him, with the Urim: at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, he and all the children of Israel. So Moses did as the Lord said: he took Joshua and put him before Eleazar the priest and the meeting of the people: And he put his hands on him and gave him his orders, as the Lord had said by Moses.

Then Moses sent for Joshua, and before the eyes of all Israel said to him, Be strong and take heart: for you are to go with this people into the land which the Lord, by his oath to their fathers, has given them; by your help they will take it for their heritage. It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not take away his help from you or give you up: so have no fear.

At that time the Lord said to Moses, The day of your death is near: send for Joshua, and come to the Tent of meeting so that I may give him his orders. So Moses and Joshua went to the Tent of meeting. And the Lord was seen in the Tent in a pillar of cloud resting by the door of the Tent. And the Lord said to Moses, Now you are going to rest with your fathers; and this people will be false to me, uniting themselves to the strange gods of the land where they are going; they will be turned away from me and will not keep the agreement I have made with them. read more.
In that day my wrath will be moved against them, and I will be turned away from them, veiling my face from them, and destruction will overtake them, and unnumbered evils and troubles will come on them; so that in that day they will say, Have not these evils come on us because our God is not with us? Truly, my face will be turned away from them in that day, because of all the evil they have done in going after other gods. Make then this song for yourselves, teaching it to the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I have taken them into the land named in my oath to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they have made themselves full of food and are fat, then they will be turned to other gods and will give them worship, no longer honouring me or keeping my agreement. Then when evils and troubles without number have overtaken them, this song will be a witness to them, for the words of it will be clear in the memories of their children: for I see the thoughts which are moving in their hearts even now, before I have taken them into the land of my oath. So that same day Moses made this song, teaching it to the children of Israel. Then he gave orders to Joshua, the son of Nun, saying to him, Be strong and take heart: for you are to go at the head of the children of Israel into the land which I made an oath to give them; and I will be with you.

Then he said to his disciples, There is much grain but not enough men to get it in. Make prayer, then, to the Lord of the grain-fields, that he may send out workers to get in his grain.

And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain.

Now I make request to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you will be working together with me in your prayers to God for me; So that I may be kept safe from those in Judaea who have not put themselves under the rule of God, and that the help which I am taking for Jerusalem may be pleasing to the saints; So that I may come to you in joy by the good pleasure of God, and have rest with you.

You at the same time helping together by your prayer for us; so that for what has been given to us through a number of persons, praise may go up to God for us from all of them.

With prayers and deep desires, making requests at all times in the Spirit, and keeping watch, with strong purpose, in prayer for all the saints, And for me, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make clear without fear the secret of the good news, For which I am a representative in chains, and that I may say without fear the things which it is right for me to say.

Aristarchus, my brother-prisoner, sends his love to you, and Mark, a relation of Barnabas (about whom you have been given orders: if he comes to you, be kind to him),

But we make this request to you, my brothers: give attention to those who are working among you, who are over you in the Lord to keep order among you; And have a high opinion of them in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

Keep in mind those who were over you, and who gave you the word of God; seeing the outcome of their way of life, let your faith be like theirs.

Then Moses sent for Joshua, and before the eyes of all Israel said to him, Be strong and take heart: for you are to go with this people into the land which the Lord, by his oath to their fathers, has given them; by your help they will take it for their heritage.

Joshua, the son of Nun, your servant, he will go into the land: say to him that he is to be strong, for he will be Israel's guide into their heritage.

Truly the signs of an Apostle were done among you in quiet strength, with wonders and acts of power.

Because our good news came to you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, so that you were completely certain of it; even as you saw what our behaviour to you was like from our love to you.

Offering the word of life; so that I may have glory in you in the day of Christ, because my running was not for nothing and my work was not without effect.

And Paul, getting up and making a sign with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who have the fear of God, give ear. The God of this people Israel made selection of our fathers, lifting the people up from their low condition when they were living in the land of Egypt, and with a strong arm took them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with their ways in the waste land. read more.
And having put to destruction seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the land for their heritage for about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things he gave them judges, till the time of Samuel the prophet. Then at their request for a king, God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the family of Benjamin, who was their king for forty years. And having put him on one side, he made David their king, to whom he gave witness, saying, I have taken David, the son of Jesse, a man dear to my heart, who will do all my pleasure. From this man's seed has God given to Israel a Saviour, even Jesus, as he gave his word; For whose coming John made ready the way by preaching to all the people of Israel the baptism which goes with a change of heart. And when John was completing his work, he said, What do I seem to you to be? I am not he; but one is coming after me, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo. My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those among you who have the fear of God, to us the word of this salvation is sent. For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him. And though no cause of death was seen in him, they made a request to Pilate that he might be put to death. And when they had done all the things said in the Writings about him, they took him down from the tree, and put him in the place of the dead. But God gave him back from the dead: And for a number of days he was seen by those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people. And we are giving you the good news of the undertaking made to the fathers, Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being. And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David. Because he says in another Psalm, You will not let your Holy One see destruction. Now David, having done God's work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put with his fathers, and his body came to destruction: But he, who was lifted up by God, did not see destruction. And so, let it be clear to you, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is offered to you: And through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from which the law of Moses was not able to make you free. So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you; See, you doubters, have wonder and come to your end; for I will do a thing in your days to which you will not give belief, even if it is made clear to you. And when they went out, they made a request that these words might be said to them again on the Sabbath after. Now when the meeting was ended, a number of the Jews and of the God-fearing Gentiles who had become Jews, went after Paul and Barnabas: who put before them how important it was to keep on in the grace of God.

For even if you had ten thousand teachers in Christ, you have not more than one father: for in Christ Jesus I have given birth to you through the good news.

And they were bitter against him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is nowhere without honour but in his country and among his family.

Who would have had faith in the word which has come to our ears, and to whom had the arm of the Lord been unveiled?

See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your brow hard against their brows. Like a diamond harder than rock I have made your brow: have no fear of them and do not be overcome by their looks, for they are an uncontrolled people.

And the wind, lifting me up, took me away: and I went in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.

How long, O Lord, will your ears be shut to my voice? I make an outcry to you about violent behaviour, but you do not send salvation. Why do you make me see evil-doing, and why are my eyes fixed on wrong? for wasting and violent acts are before me: and there is fighting and bitter argument.

Now after these things were done, the captains came to me and said, The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not kept themselves separate from the people of the lands, but have taken part in the disgusting ways of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the peoples of the lands; and in fact the captains and rulers have been the first to do this evil.

And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, who was married to one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and took their name. They made search for their record among the lists of families, but their names were nowhere to be seen; so they were looked on as unclean and no longer priests.

And among the sons of the priests who were married to strange women were these: of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak and his brothers, Maaseiah and Eliezer and Jarib and Gedaliah. And they gave their word that they would put away their wives; and for their sin, they gave an offering of a male sheep of the flock. And of the sons of Immer, Hanani and Zebadiah. read more.
And of the sons of Harim, Maaseiah and Elijah and Shemaiah and Jehiel and Uzziah. And of the sons of Pashhur, Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah. And of the Levites, Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (that is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. And of the music-makers, Eliashib; and of the door-keepers, Shallum and Telem and Uri.

Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who had been placed over the rooms of the house of our God, being a friend of Tobiah, Had made ready for him a great room, where at one time they kept the meal offerings, the perfume, and the vessels and the tenths of the grain and wine and oil which were given by order to the Levites and the music-makers and the door-keepers, and the lifted offerings for the priests. But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king; and after some days, I got the king to let me go, read more.
And I came to Jerusalem; and it was clear to me what evil Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in making ready for him a room in the buildings of the house of God. And it was evil in my eyes: so I had all Tobiah's things put out of the room. Then I gave orders, and they made the rooms clean: and I put back in them the vessels of the house of God, with the meal offerings and the perfume. And I saw that the Levites had not been given what was needed for their support; so that the Levites and the music-makers, who did the work, had gone away, everyone to his field. Then I made protests to the chiefs, and said, Why has the house of God been given up? And I got them together and put them in their places. Then all Judah came with the tenth part of the grain and wine and oil and put it into the store-houses. And I made controllers over the store-houses, Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and with them was Hanan, the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah: they were taken to be true men and their business was the distribution of these things to their brothers.

And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the chief priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite: so I sent him away from me. Keep them in mind, O my God, because they have put shame on the priests' name and on the agreement of the priests and the Levites.

Now there were at Antioch, in the church there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Symeon who was named Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, a relation of Herod the king, and Saul.

And at Beth-el the sons of the prophets came out to Elisha and said, Has it been made clear to you that the Lord is going to take away your master from over you today? And he said, Yes, I have knowledge of it: say no more.

And Saul sent men to take David; and when they saw the band of prophets at work, with Samuel in his place at their head, the spirit of God came on Saul's men, and they became like prophets.

And at Jericho the sons of the prophets came up to Elisha and said to him, Has it been made clear to you that the Lord is going to take away your master from over you today? And he said in answer, Yes, I have knowledge of it: say no more.

And when the sons of the prophets who were facing him at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha. And they came out to him, and went down on the earth before him.

And though the Lord will give you the bread of trouble and the water of grief, you will no longer put your teacher on one side, but you will see your teacher:

Are not sparrows two a farthing? and not one of them comes to an end without your Father: But the hairs of your head are all numbered. Then have no fear; you are of more value than a flock of sparrows.

And Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, By the living Lord, the God of Israel, whose servant I am, there will be no dew or rain in these years, but only at my word. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Go from here in the direction of the east, and keep yourself in a secret place by the stream Cherith, east of Jordan. read more.
The water of the stream will be your drink, and by my orders the ravens will give you food there. So he went and did as the Lord said, living by the stream Cherith, east of Jordan. And the ravens took him bread in the morning and meat in the evening; and the water of the stream was his drink. Now after a time the stream became dry, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Up! go now to Zarephath, in Zidon, and make your living-place there; I have given orders to a widow woman there to see that you have food. So he got up and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the door of the town, he saw a widow woman getting sticks together; and crying out to her he said, Will you give me a little water in a vessel for my drink? And when she was going to get it, he said to her, And get me with it a small bit of bread. Then she said, By the life of the Lord your God, I have nothing but a little meal in my store, and a drop of oil in the bottle; and now I am getting two sticks together so that I may go in and make it ready for me and my son, so that we may have a meal before our death. And Elijah said to her, Have no fear; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and come and give it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: The store of meal will not come to an end, and the bottle will never be without oil, till the day when the Lord sends rain on the earth. So she went and did as Elijah said; and she and he and her family had food for a long time. The store of meal did not come to an end, and the bottle was never without oil, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Elijah.

Ahab gave Jezebel news of all Elijah had done, and how he had put all the prophets to death with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a servant to Elijah, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And he got up, fearing for his life, and went in flight, and came to Beer-sheba in Judah, parting there from his servant; read more.
While he himself went a day's journey into the waste land, and took a seat under a broom-plant, desiring for himself only death; for he said, It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers. And stretching himself on the earth, he went to sleep under the broom-plant; but an angel, touching him, said to him, Get up and have some food. And looking up, he saw by his head a cake cooked on the stones and a bottle of water. So he took food and drink and went to sleep again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touching him said, Get up and have some food, or the journey will be overmuch for your strength. So he got up and took food and drink, and in the strength of that food he went on for forty days and nights, to Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a hole in the rock for the night; then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, What are you doing here, Elijah? And he said, I have been burning for the honour of the Lord, the God of armies; for the children of Israel have not kept your agreement; they have made destruction of your altars, and have put your prophets to death with the sword: till I, even I, am the only one living; and now they are attempting to take away my life. Then he said, Go out and take your place on the mountain before the Lord. Then the Lord went by, and mountains were parted by the force of a great wind, and rocks were broken before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earth-shock, but the Lord was not in the earth-shock. And after the earth-shock a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a soft breath. And Elijah, hearing it, went out, covering his face with his robe, and took his place in the opening of the hole. And there a voice came to him saying, What are you doing here, Elijah? And he said, I have been burning for the honour of the Lord, the God of armies; for the children of Israel have not kept your agreement; they have had your altars broken down, and have put your prophets to death with the sword: till I, even I, am the only one living; and now they are attempting to take away my life. And the Lord said to him, Go back on your way through the waste land to Damascus; and when you come there, put the holy oil on Hazael to make him king over Aram; And on Jehu, son of Nimshi, making him king over Israel; and on Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, to be prophet in your place. And it will come about that the man who gets away safe from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will put to death; and whoever gets away safe from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will put to death. But I will keep safe seven thousand in Israel, all those whose knees have not been bent to Baal, and whose mouths have given him no kisses.

Are not five sparrows given in exchange for two farthings? and God has every one of them in mind. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Have no fear: you are of more value than a flock of sparrows.

So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him.

Up! now, O Lord God, come back to your resting-place, you and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints be glad in what is good.

And now, Lord, take note of their cruel words, and give your servants power to be preachers of your word without fear,

And they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men, make clear which of these two has been marked out by you, To take that position as a servant and Apostle, from which Judas by his sin was shut out, so that he might go to his place.

Then one of the twelve, who was named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, What will you give me, if I give him up to you? And the price was fixed at thirty bits of silver. And from that time he was watching for a chance to give him into their hands.

(Now this man, with the reward of his evil-doing, got for himself a field, and falling head first, came to a sudden and violent end there.

Then Judas, who was false to him, seeing that he was to be put to death, in his regret took back the thirty bits of silver to the chief priests and those in authority, Saying, I have done wrong in giving into your hands an upright man. But they said, What is that to us? it is your business. And he put down the silver in the Temple and went out, and put himself to death by hanging.

And while they were taking food, he said, Truly I say to you that one of you will be false to me. And they were very said, and said to him, one by one, Is it I, Lord? And he made answer and said, He who puts his hand into the plate with me, the same will be false to me. read more.
The Son of man goes, even as the Writings say of him: but a curse is on that man through whom the Son of man is given up; it would have been well for that man if he had never come into the world. And Judas, who was false to him, made answer and said, Is it I, Master? He says to him, Yes.

And while he was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a band armed with swords and sticks, from the chief priests and those in authority over the people. Now the false one had given them a sign saying, The one to whom I give a kiss, that is he: take him. And straight away he came to Jesus and said, Master! and gave him a kiss. read more.
And Jesus said to him, Friend, do that for which you have come. Then they came and put hands on Jesus, and took him.

Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was pleased to take payment for wrongdoing; But his wrongdoing was pointed out to him: an ass, talking with a man's voice, put a stop to the error of the prophet.

But Balaam, in answer; said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to do anything more or less than the orders of the Lord my God.

And Balak said to Balaam, Did I not send to you, requesting you with all my heart to come to me? why did you not come? am I not able to give you a place of honour? Then Balaam said to Balak, Now I have come to you; but have I power to say anything? Only what God puts into my mouth may I say.

How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?

And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?

The Bishop, then, is to be a man of good name, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, serious-minded, having respect for order, opening his house freely to guests, a ready teacher;

Let Deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their houses well.

Have we no right to take about with us a Christian wife, like the rest of the Apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

And when Jesus had come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother in bed, very ill.

They may not take as wife a loose or common woman, or one who has been put away by her husband: for the priest is holy to his God. And he is to be holy in your eyes, for by him the bread of your God is offered; he is to be holy in your eyes, for I the Lord, who make you holy, am holy. And if the daughter of a priest makes herself common and by her loose behaviour puts shame on her father, let her be burned with fire. read more.
And he who is the chief priest among his brothers, on whose head the holy oil has been put, who is marked out to put on the holy robes, may not let his hair go loose or have his clothing out of order as a sign of sorrow. He may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his mother; He may not go out of the holy place or make the holy place of his God common; for the crown of the holy oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. And let him take as his wife one who has not had relations with a man. A widow, or one whose husband has put her away, or a common woman of loose behaviour, may not be the wife of a priest; but let him take a virgin from among his people. And he may not make his seed unclean among his people, for I the Lord have made him holy.

And when they put themselves against him, and said evil words, he said, shaking his clothing, Your blood be on your heads, I am clean: from now I will go to the Gentiles.

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel: so give ear to the word of my mouth, and give them word from me of their danger. When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly be your fate; and you give him no word of it and say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his evil way, so that he may be safe; that same evil man will come to death in his evil-doing; but I will make you responsible for his blood. But if you give the evil-doer word of his danger, and he is not turned from his sin or from his evil way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing; but your life will be safe. read more.
Again, when an upright man, turning away from his righteousness, does evil, and I put a cause of falling in his way, death will overtake him: because you have given him no word of his danger, death will overtake him in his evil-doing, and there will be no memory of the upright acts which he has done; but I will make you responsible for his blood. But if you say to the upright man that he is not to do evil, he will certainly keep his life because he took note of your word; and your life will be safe.

When I say to the evil-doer, Death will certainly overtake you; and you say nothing to make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way; death will overtake that evil man in his evil-doing, but I will make you responsible for his blood.

And whoever will not take you in, or give ear to your words, when you go out from that house or that town, put off its dust from your feet. Truly I say to you, It will be better for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of God's judging than for that town. See, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Be then as wise as snakes, and as gentle as doves. read more.
But be on the watch against men: for they will give you up to the Sanhedrins, and in their Synagogues they will give you blows; And you will come before rulers and kings because of me, for a witness to them and to the Gentiles. But when you are given up into their hands, do not be troubled about what to say or how to say it: for in that hour what you are to say will be given to you; Because it is not you who say the words, but the Spirit of your Father in you. And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child: and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death. And you will be hated by all men because of my name: but he who is strong to the end will have salvation. But when they are cruel to you in one town, go in flight to another: for truly, I say to you, You will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes. A disciple is not greater than his master, or a servant than his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he may be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have given the name Beelzebub to the master of the house, how much more to those of his house! Have, then, no fear of them: because nothing is covered which will not come to light, or secret which will not be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, say in the light: and what comes to your ear secretly, say publicly from the house-tops. And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell. Are not sparrows two a farthing? and not one of them comes to an end without your Father: But the hairs of your head are all numbered. Then have no fear; you are of more value than a flock of sparrows. To everyone, then, who gives witness to me before men, I will give witness before my Father in heaven. But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before my Father in heaven. Do not have the thought that I have come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace but a sword. For I have come to put a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: And a man will be hated by those of his house. He who has more love for his father or mother than for me is not good enough for me; he who has more love for son or daughter than for me is not good enough for me. And he who does not take his cross and come after me is not good enough for me. He who has the desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, and he who gives up his life because of me will have it given back to him. He who gives honour to you gives honour to me; and he who gives honour to me gives honour to him who sent me.

And so I say to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men. For I have not kept back from you anything of the purpose of God.

And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, A man went out to put seed in the earth; And while he did so, some seeds were dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took them for food: And some of the seed went among the stones, where it had not much earth, and straight away it came up because the earth was not deep: read more.
And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root it became dry and dead. And some seeds went among thorns, and the thorns came up and they had no room for growth: And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times as much.

A man went out to put seed in the earth: And while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took it for food. And some went on the stones, where it had not much earth; and it came up straight away, because the earth was not deep: read more.
And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root, it became dry and dead. And some went among the thorns, and the thorns came up, and it had no room for growth and gave no fruit. And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, coming up and increasing, and giving thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much. And he said to them, Whoever has ears, let him give ear. And when he was by himself, those who were round him with the twelve put questions to him about the purpose of the stories. And he said to them, To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are given in the form of stories; So that seeing they may see, and it will not be clear to them; and hearing it, they will not get the sense; for fear that they may be turned again to me and have forgiveness. And he said to them, If you are not clear about this story, how will you be clear about the others? The seed is the word. And these are they by the wayside, where the word is planted; and when they have given ear, the Evil One comes straight away and takes away the word which has been planted in them. And in the same way, these are they who are planted on the stones, who, when the word has come to their ears, straight away take it with joy; And they have no root in themselves, but go on for a time; then, when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, they quickly become full of doubts. And others are those planted among the thorns; these are they who have given ear to the word, And the cares of this life, and the deceits of wealth, and the desire for other things coming in, put a stop to the growth of the word, and it gives no fruit. And these are they who were planted on the good earth; such as give ear to the word, and take it into their hearts, and give fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundred times as much.

A man went out to put in seed, and while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside and it was crushed under foot, and was taken by the birds of heaven. And some went on the rock, and when it came up it became dry and dead because it had no water. And some went among thorns, and the thorns came up with it and it had no room for growth. read more.
And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear.

And those who had made Jesus prisoner took him away to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and those in authority over the people had come together.

After two days is the Passover, and the Son of man will be given up to the death of the cross. Then the chief priests and the rulers of the people came together in the house of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas.

But Jesus said not a word. And the high priest said to him, I put you on oath, by the living God, that you will say to us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus says to him, You say so: but I say to you, From now you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest, violently parting his robes, said, He has said evil against God: what more need have we of witnesses? for now his words against God have come to your ears:

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You have no knowledge of anything; You do not see that it is in your interest for one man to be put to death for the people, so that all the nation may not come to destruction. He did not say this of himself, but being the high priest that year he said, as a prophet, that Jesus would be put to death for the nation;

It was Caiaphas who had said to the Jews that it was in their interest for one man to be put to death for the people.

And when their prayer was ended, the place where they were was violently moved, and they all became full of the Holy Spirit, preaching the word of God without fear.

And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs? The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given glory to his servant Jesus; whom you gave up, turning your backs on him, when Pilate had made the decision to let him go free. But you would have nothing to do with the Holy and Upright One, and made request for a man of blood to be given to you, read more.
And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well, before you all. And now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers, without knowledge. But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this way. So then, let your hearts be changed and be turned to God, so that your sins may be completely taken away, and times of blessing may come from the Lord; And that he may send the Christ who was marked out for you from the first, even Jesus: Who is to be kept in heaven till the time when all things are put right, of which God has given word by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been from the earliest times. For Moses said, The Lord will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to everything which he will say to you. And every soul who does not give attention to that prophet, will be cut off from among the people. And all the prophets from Samuel and those who came after, every one of them, gave word of these days. You are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, Through your seed a blessing will come on all the families of the earth. To you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you from his sins.

If we are questioned today about a good work done to a man who was ill, as to how he has been made well, Take note, all of you, and all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you put to death on the cross, whom God gave back from the dead, even through him is this man now before you completely well. He is the stone which you builders had no use for, but which has been made the chief stone of the building. read more.
And in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, through which we may have salvation. Now when they saw that Peter and John were without fear, though they were men of no education or learning, they were greatly surprised; and they took note of them that they had been with Jesus.

But Peter and John in answer said to them, It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God: For it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have knowledge of.

And hearing this, they went into the Temple at dawn, and were teaching. But the high priest and those who were with him got together the Sanhedrin and the representatives of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to get them.

As for me, I have not said; Let the day of trouble come to them quickly; and I have not been hoping for the death-giving day; you have knowledge of what came from my lips; it was open before you.

When Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, first became king, this word came from the Lord, saying, This is what the Lord has said: Take your place in the open square of the Lord's house and say to all the towns of Judah, who come into the Lord's house for worship, everything I give you orders to say to them: keep back not a word; It may be that they will give ear, and that every man will be turned from his evil way, so that my purpose of sending evil on them because of the evil of their doings may be changed. read more.
And you are to say to them, This is what the Lord has said: If you do not give ear to me and go in the way of my law which I have put before you, And give ear to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you, getting up early and sending them, though you gave no attention; Then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this town a curse to all the nations of the earth. And in the hearing of the priests and the prophets and all the people, Jeremiah said these words in the house of the Lord. Now, when Jeremiah had come to the end of saying everything the Lord had given him orders to say to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people took him by force, saying, Death will certainly be your fate. Why have you said in the name of the Lord, This house will be like Shiloh, and this land a waste with no one living in it? And all the people had come together to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. And the rulers of Judah, hearing of these things, came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord, and took their seats by the new door of the Lord's house. Then the priests and the prophets said to the rulers and to all the people, The right fate for this man is death; for he has said words against this town in your hearing. Then Jeremiah said to all the rulers and to all the people, The Lord has sent me as his prophet to say against this house and against this town all the words which have come to your ears. So now, make a change for the better in your ways and your doings, and give ear to the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will let himself be turned from the decision he has made against you for evil. As for me, here I am in your hands: do with me whatever seems good and right in your opinion. Only be certain that, if you put me to death, you will make yourselves and your town and its people responsible for the blood of one who has done no wrong: for truly, the Lord has sent me to you to say all these words in your ears.

The Lord has said, Have no false hopes, saying to yourselves, The Chaldaeans will go away from us: for they will not go away. For even if you had overcome all the army of the Chaldaeans fighting against you, and there were only wounded men among them, still they would get up, every man in his tent, and put this town on fire.

So Jeremiah came into the hole of the prison, under the arches, and was there for a long time. Then King Zedekiah sent and got him out: and the king, questioning him secretly in his house, said, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is. Then he said, You will be given up into the hands of the king of Babylon. Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What has been my sin against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

Brothers, take me as your example, and take note of those who are walking after the example we have given.

Not because we have not the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, so that you might do the same.

Let no one make little of you because you are young, but be an example to the church in word, in behaviour, in love, in faith, in holy living.

Not as lords over God's heritage, but making yourselves examples to the flock.

And to the Jews I was as a Jew, so that I might give the good news to them; to those under the law I was the same, not as being myself under the law, but so that I might give the good news to those under the law. To those without the law I was as one without the law, not as being without law to God, but as under law to Christ, so that I might give the good news to those without the law. To the feeble, I was as one who is feeble, so that they might have salvation: I have been all things to all men, so that some at least might have salvation. read more.
And I do all things for the cause of the good news, so that I may have a part in it.

We are free to do all things, but there are things which it is not wise to do. We are free to do all things, but not all things are for the common good.

But if anyone says to you, This food has been used as an offering, do not take it, on account of him who said it, and on account of his sense of right and wrong: Right and wrong, I say, not for you, but for the other man; for the fact that I am free is not dependent on another man's sense of right or wrong. But if I give praise to God for the food which I take, let no man say evil of me for that reason. read more.
So then, if it is a question of food or drink, or any other thing, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no cause of trouble to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God. Even as I give way to all men in all things, not looking for profit for myself, but for the good of others, that they may get salvation.

But let it be so, that I was not a trouble to you myself; but (someone may say) being false, I took you with deceit.

Then some people took little children to him, so that he might put his hands on them in blessing: and the disciples said sharp words to them.

And they took to him little children, so that he might put his hands on them: and the disciples said sharp words to them.

And they took their children to him, so that he might put his hands on them: but when the disciples saw it, they said sharp words to them

But he gave her no answer. And his disciples came and said to him, Send her away, for she is crying after us.

But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,

Saying, Let your hearts be turned from sin; for the kingdom of heaven is near. For this is he of whom Isaiah the prophet said, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight. Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. read more.
Then Jerusalem and all Judaea went out to him, and all the people from near Jordan; And they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying openly that they had done wrong. But when he saw a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? Let your change of heart be seen in your works: And say not to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; because I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children for Abraham. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire. Truly, I give baptism with water to those of you whose hearts are changed; but he who comes after me is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to take up: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire: In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned up in the fire which will never be put out.

For John said to Herod, It is wrong for you to have your brother's wife. And Herodias was bitter against him, desiring to put him to death; but she was not able; For Herod was in fear of John, being conscious that he was an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And hearing him, he was much troubled; and he gave ear to him gladly. read more.
And the chance came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee; And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and did a dance, Herod and those who were at table with him were pleased with her; and the king said to the girl, Make a request for anything and I will give it you. And he took an oath, saying to her, Whatever is your desire I will give it to you, even half of my kingdom. And she went out and said to her mother, What is my request to be? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in quickly to the king, and said, My desire is that you give me straight away on a plate the head of John the Baptist. And the king was very sad; but because of his oaths, and those who were with him at table, he would not say 'No' to her. And straight away the king sent out one of his armed men, and gave him an order to come back with the head: and he went and took off John's head in prison, And came back with the head on a plate, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire.

And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching;

And I will give you keepers, pleasing to my heart, who will give you your food with knowledge and wisdom.

Again, a second time, he said to him, Simon, son of John, have you any love for me? Yes, Lord, he said, you are certain of my love for you. Then take care of my sheep, said Jesus. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, am I dear to you? Now Peter was troubled in his heart because he put the question a third time, Am I dear to you? And he said to him, Lord, you have knowledge of all things; you see that you are dear to me. Jesus said to him, Then give my sheep food. Truly I say to you, When you were young, you made yourself ready and went wherever you had a desire to go: but when you are old, you will put out your hands and another will make you ready, and you will be taken where you have no desire to go.

But Balaam, in answer; said to the servants of Balak, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to do anything more or less than the orders of the Lord my God.

How may I put curses on him who is not cursed by God? how may I be angry with him with whom the Lord is not angry?

And in answer he said, Am I not ordered to say only what the Lord puts into my mouth?

Then Balaam said to Balak, Did I not say to the men you sent to me, Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, it would not be possible for me to go outside the orders of the Lord, doing good or evil at the impulse of my mind; whatever the Lord says I will say? So now I will go back to my people: but first let me make clear to you what this people will do to your people in days to come.

Then Balaam said to Balak, Now I have come to you; but have I power to say anything? Only what God puts into my mouth may I say.

Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you:

Now the day before Saul came, the word of God had come to Samuel, saying, Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and on him you are to put the holy oil, making him ruler over my people Israel, and he will make my people safe from the hands of the Philistines: for I have seen the sorrow of my people, whose cry has come up to me.

And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons. And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord. And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you. read more.
And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace? And he said, In peace: I have come to make an offering to the Lord: make yourselves clean and come with me to make the offering. And he made Jesse and his sons clean, and sent for them to be present at the offering. Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord's selection is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord's view is not man's; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart. Then Jesse sent for Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. Then Jesse made Shammah come before him. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. And Jesse made his seven sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not taken any of these. Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here. So he sent and made him come in. Now he had red hair and beautiful eyes and pleasing looks. And the Lord said, Come, put the oil on him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah.

At that time, when thousands of the people had come together, in such numbers that they were crushing one another, he said first to his disciples, Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is deceit.

A curse is on you, blind guides, who say, Whoever takes an oath by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gold of the Temple, he is responsible.

And Jesus said to them, Take care to have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, We took no bread. And Jesus, seeing it, said, O you of little faith, why are you reasoning among yourselves, because you have no bread? read more.
Do you still not see, or keep in mind the five cakes of bread of the five thousand, and the number of baskets you took up? Or the seven cakes of bread of the four thousand, and the number of baskets you took up? How is it that you do not see that I was not talking to you about bread, but about keeping away from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Then they saw that it was not the leaven of bread which he had in mind, but the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Even so, being full of loving desire for you, we took delight in giving you not only God's good news, but even our lives, because you were dear to us.

So it is right for me to take thought for you all in this way, because I have you in my heart; for in my chains, and in my arguments before the judges in support of the good news, making clear that it is true, you all have your part with me in grace.

We give praise to God at all times for you, keeping you in memory in our prayers; Having ever in mind your work of faith and acts of love and the strength of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father; Being conscious, my brothers, dear to God, that you have been marked out by God's purpose;

Even as you saw how, like a father with his children, we were teaching and comforting you all, and giving witness,

And Moses certainly kept faith as a servant, in all his house, and as a witness of those things which were to be said later;

Let heaven and earth be my witnesses against you this day that I have put before you life and death, a blessing and a curse: so take life for yourselves and for your seed:

Who kept faith with God who gave him his place, even as Moses did in all his house.

May heaven and earth be my witnesses against you today, that destruction will quickly overtake you, cutting you off from that land which you are going over Jordan to take; your days will not be long in that land, but you will come to a complete end.

So, crying to the Lord, they said, Give ear to our prayer, O Lord, give ear, and do not let destruction overtake us because of this man's life; do not put on us the sin of taking life without cause: for you, O Lord, have done what seemed good to you.

Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep. And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction.

And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

Then great was the men's fear of the Lord; and they made an offering to the Lord and took oaths to him.

And Jonah first of all went a day's journey into the town, and crying out said, In forty days destruction will overtake Nineveh. And the people of Nineveh had belief in God; and a time was fixed for going without food, and they put on haircloth, from the greatest to the least. And the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he got up from his seat of authority, and took off his robe, and covering himself with haircloth, took his seat in the dust. read more.
And he had it given out in Nineveh, By the order of the king and his great men, no man or beast, herd or flock, is to have a taste of anything; let them have no food or water: And let man and beast be covered with haircloth, and let them make strong prayers to God: and let everyone be turned from his evil way and the violent acts of their hands. Who may say that God will not be turned, changing his purpose and turning away from his burning wrath, so that destruction may not overtake us?

Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel.

If one man does wrong to another, God will be his judge: but if a man's sin is against the Lord, who will take up his cause? But they gave no attention to the voice of their father, for it was the Lord's purpose to send destruction on them.

Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord. And the priests' way with the people was this: when any man made an offering, the priest's servant came while the flesh was being cooked, having in his hand a meat-hook with three teeth; This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. read more.
And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked. And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force. And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings.

Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod? Did I give to your father's family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel? Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people?

And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were going away from me, and you had not come at the time which had been fixed, and the Philistines had come together at Michmash; I said, Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal, and I have made no prayer for help to the Lord: and so, forcing myself to do it, I made a burned offering. And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever. read more.
But now, your authority will not go on: the Lord, searching for a man who is pleasing to him in every way, has given him the place of ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord gave you orders to do.

Then the Lord said to Samuel, It is no longer my pleasure for Saul to be king; for he is turned back from going in my ways, and has not done my orders. And Samuel was very sad, crying to the Lord in prayer all night. And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal. read more.
And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, May the blessing of the Lord be with you: I have done what was ordered by the Lord. And Samuel said, What then is this sound of the crying of sheep and the noise of oxen which comes to my ears? And Saul said, They have taken them from the Amalekites: for the people have kept the best of the sheep and of the oxen as an offering to the Lord your God; all the rest we have given up to destruction. Then Samuel said to Saul, Say no more! Let me give you word of what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on. And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel, And the Lord sent you on a journey and said, Go and put to the curse those sinners, the Amalekites, fighting against them till every one is dead. Why then did you not do the orders of the Lord, but by violently taking their goods did evil in the eyes of the Lord? And Saul said, Truly, I have done the orders of the Lord and have gone the way the Lord sent me; I have taken Agag, the king of Amalek, and have given the Amalekites up to destruction. But the people took some of their goods, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which were put to the curse, to make an offering of them to the Lord your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in offerings and burned offerings as in the doing of his orders? Truly, to do his pleasure is better than to make offerings, and to give ear to him than the fat of sheep. For to go against his orders is like the sin of those who make use of secret arts, and pride is like giving worship to images. Because you have put away from you the word of the Lord, he has put you from your place as king. And Saul said to Samuel, Great is my sin: for I have gone against the orders of the Lord and against your words: because, fearing the people, I did what they said. So now, let my sin have forgiveness, and go back with me to give worship to the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul, I will not go back with you: for you have put away from you the word of the Lord, and the Lord has put you from your place as king over Israel. And when Samuel was turning round to go away, Saul took the skirt of his robe in his hand, and the cloth came away. And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you. And further, the Glory of Israel will not say what is false, and his purpose may not be changed: for he is not a man, whose purpose may be changed. Then he said, Great is my sin: but still, give me honour now before the heads of my people and before Israel, and come back with me so that I may give worship to the Lord your God. So Samuel went back after Saul, and Saul gave worship to the Lord.

Now certain men came down from Judaea, teaching the brothers and saying that without circumcision, after the rule of Moses, there is no salvation.

Make prayer, then, to the Lord of the grain-fields, that he may send out workers to get in his grain.

Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our dear helper in the faith,

Then King Jehoash sent for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said to them, Why have you not made good what is damaged in the house? now take no more money from your neighbours, but give it for the building up of the house.

And getting together the priests and Levites, he said to them, Go out into the towns of Judah year by year, and get from all Israel money to keep the house of your God in good condition; and see that this is done without loss of time. The Levites, however, were slow in doing so. Then the king sent for Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, Why have you not given the Levites orders that the tax fixed by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and by the meeting of Israel, for the Tent of witness, is to be got in from Judah and Jerusalem and handed over?

And so I say to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men. For I have not kept back from you anything of the purpose of God.

As it was given to you by Epaphras, our well-loved helper, who is a true servant of Christ for us,

And the sons of Samuel: the oldest Joel, and the second Abiah.

Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging.

But it seemed to me necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, who has taken part with me in the work and in the fight, and your servant, sent by you for help in my need;

Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus. A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.

But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws.

But get up on your feet: for I have come to you for this purpose, to make you a servant and a witness of the things in which you have seen me, and of those in which you will see me;

And though the Lord will give you the bread of trouble and the water of grief, you will no longer put your teacher on one side, but you will see your teacher:

And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching;

And they were all weeping, falling on Paul's neck and kissing him, Being sad most of all because he had said that they would not see his face again. And so they went with him to the ship.

And when these days came to an end, we went on our journey; and they all, with their wives and children, came with us on our way till we were out of the town: and after going on our knees in prayer by the sea, We said our last words to one another, and got into the ship, and they went back to their houses.

Such are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have given up to Satan, so that they may say no more evil words against God.

And their words will be like poisoned wounds in the flesh: such are Hymenaeus and Philetus;

For this cause I have said, Let your eyes be turned away from me in my bitter weeping; I will not be comforted for the wasting of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of trouble and of crushing down and of destruction from the Lord, the Lord of armies, in the valley of vision; ...

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, What did these men say, and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, even from Babylon. And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said in answer, They saw everything in my house: there is nothing among my stores which I did not let them see. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Give ear to the word of the Lord of armies: read more.
Truly, the days are coming when everything in your house, and whatever your fathers have put in store till this day, will be taken away to Babylon: all will be gone. And your sons, even your offspring, will they take away to be unsexed servants in the house of the king of Babylon.

I have put watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will not keep quiet day or night: you who are the Lord's recorders, take no rest,

So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the children of Israel; and you are to give ear to the word of my mouth and give them news from me of their danger.

Of which I was made a preacher, through that grace of God which was given to me in the measure of the working of his power.

If you keep yourselves safely based in the faith, not moved from the hope of the good news which came to you, and which was given to every living being under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

To be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, doing the work of a priest in the good news of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles might be pleasing to God, being made holy by the Holy Spirit.

Let us be judged as servants of Christ, and as those who are responsible for the secret things of God.

But you will be named the priests of the Lord, the servants of our God: you will have the wealth of the nations for your food, and you will be clothed with their glory.

But in everything making it clear that we are the servants of God, in quiet strength, in troubles, in need, in sorrow,

Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, with the Bishops and Deacons of the church:

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to those of God's selection who have been made holy by God the Father and are kept safe for Jesus Christ:

But be self-controlled in all things, do without comfort, go on preaching the good news, completing the work which has been given you to do.

And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching;

Now this is the blessing which Moses, the man of God, gave to the children of Israel before his death.

But you, O man of God, keep yourself from these things, and go after righteousness, religion, faith, love, a quiet mind, gentle behaviour.

And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles;

Be glad over her, heaven, and you saints, and Apostles, and prophets; because she has been judged by God on your account.

Let rulers whose rule is good be honoured twice over, specially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

I who am myself one of the rulers of the church, and a witness of the death of Christ, having my part in the coming glory, send this serious request to the chief men among you:

Then after the space of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. And I went up by revelation; and I put before them the good news which I was preaching among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were of good name, so that the work which I was or had been doing might not be without effect. But not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was made to undergo circumcision: read more.
And that because of the false brothers let in secretly, who came searching out our free condition which we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might make servants of us; To whom we gave way not even for an hour; so that the true words of the good news might still be with you. But from those who seemed to be important (whatever they were has no weight with me: God does not take man's person into account): those who seemed to be important gave nothing new to me; But, quite the opposite, when they saw that I had been made responsible for preaching the good news to those without circumcision, even as Peter had been for those of the circumcision (Because he who was working in Peter as the Apostle of the circumcision was working no less in me among the Gentiles); When they saw the grace which was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who had the name of being pillars, gave to me and Barnabas their right hands as friends so that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision;

But when it was the good pleasure of God, by whom I was marked out even from my mother's body, through his grace, To give the revelation of his Son in me, so that I might give the news of him to the Gentiles; then I did not take the opinion of flesh and blood, And I went not up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and again I came back to Damascus. read more.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and was there with him fifteen days. But of the other Apostles I saw only James, the Lord's brother. Now God is witness that the things which I am writing to you are true. Then I came to the parts of Syria and Cilicia. And the churches of Judaea which were in Christ still had no knowledge of my face or person: Only it came to their ears that he who at one time was cruel to us is now preaching the faith which before had been attacked by him; And they gave glory to God in me.

But how will they give worship to him in whom they have no faith? and how will they have faith in him of whom they have not had news? and how will they have news without a preacher?

And of this I became a preacher and an Apostle (what I say is true, not false,) and a teacher of the Gentiles in the true faith.

Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, in agreement with the faith of the saints of God and the full knowledge of what is true in harmony with religion,

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends words of love to the twelve tribes of the Jews living in all parts of the earth.

And he said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And Jesus said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place. And he went away from the town of Beth-lehem-judah, looking for somewhere to make his living-place; and on his journey he came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Beth-lehem-judah, and I am looking for a living-place. read more.
Then Micah said to him, Make your living-place with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver a year and your clothing and food. And the Levite said he would make his living-place with the man, and he became to him as one of his sons. And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.

And straight away he made his disciples get into the boat, and go before him to the other side to Beth-saida, while he himself sent the people away.

And he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a quiet place, and take a rest for a time. Because there were a great number coming and going, and they had no time even for food. And they went away in the boat to a waste place by themselves.

Then the spirit of God came on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and, getting up before the people, he said to them, God has said, Why do you go against the orders of the Lord, so that everything goes badly for you? because you have given up the Lord, he has given you up. But when they had made a secret design against him, he was stoned with stones, by the king's order, in the outer square of the Lord's house.

Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, came near and gave Micaiah a blow on the side of the face, saying, Where is the spirit of the Lord whose word is in you? And Micaiah said, Truly, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room to keep yourself safe. And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son; read more.
And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace.

And when he saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel? Then he said in answer, I have not been troubling Israel, but you and your family; because, turning away from the orders of the Lord, you have gone after the Baals.

So he got up and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the door of the town, he saw a widow woman getting sticks together; and crying out to her he said, Will you give me a little water in a vessel for my drink? And when she was going to get it, he said to her, And get me with it a small bit of bread. Then she said, By the life of the Lord your God, I have nothing but a little meal in my store, and a drop of oil in the bottle; and now I am getting two sticks together so that I may go in and make it ready for me and my son, so that we may have a meal before our death. read more.
And Elijah said to her, Have no fear; go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and come and give it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: The store of meal will not come to an end, and the bottle will never be without oil, till the day when the Lord sends rain on the earth. So she went and did as Elijah said; and she and he and her family had food for a long time. The store of meal did not come to an end, and the bottle was never without oil, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Elijah.

Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things. And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say.

Now there was an old prophet living in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and gave him word of all the man of God had done that day in Beth-el, and they gave their father an account of the words he had said to the king. Then their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone. So the prophet said to his sons, Make ready an ass for me. So they made an ass ready, and he got on it, read more.
And went after the man of God, and came up with him while he was seated under an oak-tree. And he said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said to him, Come back to the house with me and have a meal. But he said, I may not go back with you or go into your house; and I will not take food or a drink of water with you in this place; For the Lord said to me, You are not to take food or water there, or go back again by the way you came. Then he said to him, I am a prophet like you; and an angel said to me by the word of the Lord, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he said false words to him. So he went back with him, and had a meal in his house and a drink of water. But while they were seated at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had taken him back; And crying out to the man of God who came from Judah, he said, The Lord says, Because you have gone against the voice of the Lord, and have not done as you were ordered by the Lord, But have come back, and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water; your dead body will not be put to rest with your fathers. Now after the meal he made ready the ass for him, for the prophet whom he had taken back. And he went on his way; but on the road a lion came rushing at him and put him to death; and his dead body was stretched in the road with the ass by its side, and the lion was there by the body. And some men, going by, saw the body stretched out in the road with the lion by its side; and they came and gave news of it in the town where the old prophet was living. Then the prophet who had made him come back, hearing it, said, It is the man of God, who went against the word of the Lord; that is why the Lord has given him to the lion to be wounded to death, as the Lord said. And he said to his sons, Make ready the ass for me. And they did so. And he went and saw the dead body stretched out in the road with the ass and the lion by its side: the lion had not taken the body for its food or done any damage to the ass. Then the prophet took up the body of the man of God and put it on the ass and took it back; and he came to the town to put the body to rest with weeping. And he put the body in the resting-place made ready for himself, weeping and sorrowing over it, saying, O my brother! And when he had put it to rest, he said to his sons, When I am dead, then you are to put my body into the earth with the body of this man of God, and put me by his bones so that my bones may be kept safe with his bones. For the outcry he made by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el and against all the houses of the high places in the towns of Samaria, will certainly come about.

Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs, and say good things. And Micaiah said, By the living Lord, whatever the Lord says to me I will say.

But when he had become strong, his heart was lifted up in pride, causing his destruction; and he did evil against the Lord his God; for he went into the Temple of the Lord for the purpose of burning perfumes on the altar of perfumes. And Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty of the Lord's priests, who were strong men; And they made protests to Uzziah the king, and said to him, The burning of perfumes, Uzziah, is not your business but that of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been made holy for this work: go out of the holy place, for you have done wrong, and it will not be to your honour before God. read more.
Then Uzziah was angry; and he had in his hand a vessel for burning perfume; and while his wrath was bitter against the priests, the mark of the leper's disease came out on his brow, before the eyes of the priests in the house of the Lord by the altar of perfumes. And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests, looking at him, saw the mark of the leper on his brow, and they sent him out quickly and he himself went out straight away, for the Lord's punishment had come on him.

The secret of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold vessels with burning lights. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lights are the seven churches.

To the angel of the church in Ephesus say: These things says he who has the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the middle of the seven gold lights:

The secret of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold vessels with burning lights. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lights are the seven churches.

To the angel of the church in Ephesus say: These things says he who has the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the middle of the seven gold lights:

Then Zadok came, and Abiathar, and with them the ark of God's agreement: and they put down the ark of God, till all the people from the town had gone by. And the king said to Zadok, Take the ark of God back into the town: if I have grace in the eyes of the Lord, he will let me come back and see it and his House again: But if he says, I have no delight in you: then, here I am; let him do to me what seems good to him. read more.
The king said further to Zadok the priest, See, you and Abiathar are to go back to the town in peace, with your two sons, Ahimaaz, your son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar.

And as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking together about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, saying to one another, Come now, give ear to the word which comes from the Lord. And they come to you as my people come, and are seated before you as my people, hearing your words but doing them not: for deceit is in their mouth and their heart goes after profit for themselves. And truly you are to them like a love song by one who has a very pleasing voice and is an expert player on an instrument: for they give ear to your words but do them not. read more.
And when this comes about (see, it is coming), then it will be clear to them that a prophet has been among them.

Then the rulers and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, It is not right for this man to be put to death: for he has said words to us in the name of the Lord our God. Then some of the responsible men of the land got up and said to all the meeting of the people, Micah the Morashtite, who was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, said to all the people of Judah, This is what the Lord of armies has said: Zion will become like a ploughed field, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the woodland. read more.
Did Hezekiah and all Judah put him to death? did he not in the fear of the Lord make prayer for the grace of the Lord, and the Lord let himself be turned from the decision he had made against them for evil? By this act we might do great evil against ourselves.

Now it came to the ears of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an unsexed servant in the king's house, that they had put Jeremiah into the water-hole; the king at that time being seated in the doorway of Benjamin: And Ebed-melech went out from the king's house and said to the king, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have put into the water-hole; and he will come to his death in the place where he is through need of food: for there is no more bread in the town. read more.
Then the king gave orders to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with you three men from here and get Jeremiah out of the water-hole before death overtakes him. So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king, to the place where the clothing was kept, and got from there old clothing and bits of old cloth, and let them down by cords into the water-hole where Jeremiah was. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put these bits of old cloth under your arms under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So pulling Jeremiah up with the cords they got him out of the water-hole: and Jeremiah was kept in the place of the armed watchmen.

And Barnabas had a desire to take with them John, named Mark.

And there was a sharp argument between them, so that they were parted from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and went by ship to Cyprus;

And not only so, but he was marked out by the churches to go with us in the grace of this giving which we have undertaken to the glory of the Lord and to make clear that our mind was ready:

If any question comes up about Titus, he is my brother-worker, working with me for you; or about the others, they are the representatives of the churches to the glory of Christ.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man. The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds; But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. read more.
Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come. And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this: And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul; I gave you your master's daughter and your master's wives for yourself, and I gave you the daughters of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you such and such things. Why then have you had no respect for the word of the Lord, doing what is evil in his eyes? You have put Uriah the Hittite to death with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife; you have put him to death with the sword of the children of Ammon. So now the sword will never be turned away from your family; because you have had no respect for me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. The Lord says, From those of your family I will send evil against you, and before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he will take your wives to his bed by the light of this sun. You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun. And David said to Nathan, Great is my sin against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord has put away your sin; death will not come on you. But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.

Then those who gave hearing to his words had baptism: and about three thousand souls were joined to them that day.

And when the day of Pentecost was come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a violent wind, and all the house where they were was full of it. And they saw tongues, like flames of fire, coming to rest on every one of them. read more.
And they were all full of the Holy Spirit, and were talking in different languages, as the Spirit gave them power.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, and a man of learning, came to Ephesus; and he had great knowledge of the holy Writings. This man had been trained in the way of the Lord; and burning in spirit, he gave himself up to teaching the facts about Jesus, though he had knowledge only of John's baptism: And he was preaching in the Synagogue without fear. But Priscilla and Aquila, hearing his words, took him in, and gave him fuller teaching about the way of God. read more.
And when he had a desire to go over into Achaia, the brothers gave him help, and sent letters to the disciples requesting them to take him in among them: and when he had come, he gave much help to those who had faith through grace: For he overcame the Jews in public discussion, making clear from the holy Writings that the Christ was Jesus.

And all the people gave attention to the words which Philip said, when they saw the signs which he did.

But when they had faith in the good news given by Philip about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, a number of men and women had baptism.

And there was much joy in that town.

And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away. And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family.

Now I have joy in my pain because of you, and in my flesh I undergo whatever is still needed to make the sorrows of Christ complete, for the salvation of his body, the church; Of which I became a servant by the purpose of God which was given to me for you, to give effect to the word of God,

And their words will be like poisoned wounds in the flesh: such are Hymenaeus and Philetus; Men whose ideas are all false, who say that the coming back from the dead has even now taken place, overturning the faith of some.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man. The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds; But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. read more.
Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come. And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this: And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul; I gave you your master's daughter and your master's wives for yourself, and I gave you the daughters of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you such and such things. Why then have you had no respect for the word of the Lord, doing what is evil in his eyes? You have put Uriah the Hittite to death with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife; you have put him to death with the sword of the children of Ammon. So now the sword will never be turned away from your family; because you have had no respect for me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. The Lord says, From those of your family I will send evil against you, and before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he will take your wives to his bed by the light of this sun. You did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and in the light of the sun. And David said to Nathan, Great is my sin against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord has put away your sin; death will not come on you. But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.

But it seemed to me necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, who has taken part with me in the work and in the fight, and your servant, sent by you for help in my need; Because his heart was with you all, and he was greatly troubled because you had news that he was ill: For in fact he was ill almost to death: but God had mercy on him; and not only on him but on me, so that I might not have grief on grief. read more.
I have sent him, then, the more gladly, so that when you see him again, you may be happy and I may have the less sorrow. So take him to your hearts in the Lord with all joy, and give honour to such as he is: Because for the work of Christ he was near to death, putting his life in danger to make your care for me complete.

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love, ever taking thought for you in his prayers, that you may be complete and fully certain of all the purpose of God. For I give witness of him that he has undergone much trouble for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.

But praise be to God, who puts the same care for you into the heart of Titus. For while he gladly gave ear to our request, he was interested enough to go to you from the impulse of his heart.

But on the base a man may put gold, silver, stones of great price, wood, dry grass, cut stems; Every man's work will be made clear in that day, because it will be tested by fire; and the fire itself will make clear the quality of every man's work. If any man's work comes through the test, he will have a reward. read more.
If the fire puts an end to any man's work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire.

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the rulers of the church. And when they had come, he said to them, You yourselves have seen what my life has been like all the time from the day when I first came into Asia, Doing the Lord's work without pride, through all the sorrow and troubles which came on me because of the evil designs of the Jews: read more.
And how I kept back nothing which might be of profit to you, teaching you publicly and privately, Preaching to Jews and to Greeks the need for a turning of the heart to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, as you see, I am going to Jerusalem, a prisoner in spirit, having no knowledge of what will come to me there: Only that the Holy Spirit makes clear to me in every town that prison and pains are waiting for me. But I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God. And now I am conscious that you, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom, will not see my face again. And so I say to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men. For I have not kept back from you anything of the purpose of God. Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood. I am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing damage to the flock; And from among yourselves will come men who will give wrong teaching, turning away the disciples after them. So keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping. And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints. I have had no desire for any man's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves have seen that with these hands I got what was necessary for me and those who were with me. In all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting. And having said these words, he went down on his knees in prayer with them all. And they were all weeping, falling on Paul's neck and kissing him, Being sad most of all because he had said that they would not see his face again. And so they went with him to the ship.

In the same way these dreamers make the flesh unclean, having no respect for authorities, and say evil of rulers. Now when Michael, one of the chief angels, was fighting against the Evil One for the body of Moses, fearing to make use of violent words against him, he only said, May the Lord be your judge. But these men say evil about such things as they have no knowledge of; and the things of which they have natural knowledge, like beasts without reason, are the cause of their destruction.

But the high priest and those who were with him (the Sadducees) were full of envy, And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison. But in the night an angel of the Lord, opening the doors of the prison, took them out and said, read more.
Go, take your place in the Temple and give the people all the teaching about this Life. And hearing this, they went into the Temple at dawn, and were teaching. But the high priest and those who were with him got together the Sanhedrin and the representatives of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to get them. But the men who were sent saw that they were not in the prison, and came back with the news, Saying, The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors, but when they were open, there was nobody inside. Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business. And someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the Temple teaching the people. Then the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for fear that they might be stoned by the people. And they took them into the Sanhedrin, and the high priest said to them, We gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name: and now Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us responsible for this man's death. But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man. The God of our fathers gave Jesus back to life, whom you had put to death, hanging him on a tree. Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws. But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death. But one of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a man of learning in the law, of whom all the people had a high opinion, got up and made a suggestion for the men to be put outside for a little time. And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men. For before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band was broken up and came to nothing. After this man, there was Judas of Galilee, at the time of the numbering, and some of the people went after him: he was put to death, and all his supporters were put to flight. And now I say to you, Do nothing to these men, but let them be: for if this teaching or this work is of men, it will come to nothing: But if it is of God, you will not be able to overcome them, and you are in danger of fighting against God. And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go. So they went away from the Sanhedrin, happy to undergo shame for the Name. And every day, in the Temple and privately, they went on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

And when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread. And having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him. read more.
And when Herod was about to take him out, the same night Peter was sleeping in chains between two armed men, and the watchmen were keeping watch before the door of the prison. And a great light was seen shining in the room, and an angel of the Lord came to Peter and, touching him on his side so that he came out of his sleep, said, Get up quickly. And his chains came off his hands. Then the angel said, Put on your shoes and get ready to go. And he did so. And he said, Put your coat round you and come with me. And he went out after him; and he was not certain if what was done by the angel was a fact, for it seemed to him that he was seeing a vision. And when they had gone past the first and second watchmen they came to the iron door into the town, which came open by itself: and they went out and down one street; and then the angel went away. And when Peter came to his senses he said, Now, truly, I am certain that the Lord has sent his angel and taken me out of the hands of Herod, against all the hopes of the Jews. And when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer. And he gave a blow on the door, and a young girl came to it, named Rhoda. And hearing the voice of Peter, in her joy she went running, without opening the door, to say that Peter was outside. And they said to her, You are off your head. But still she said, with decision, that it was so. And they said, It is his angel. But Peter went on giving blows on the door: and when it was open and they saw him, they were full of wonder. But he made a sign to them with his hand to be quiet, and gave them an account of how the Lord had taken him out of prison. And he said, Give the news to James and the brothers. And then he went away. Now when it was day, the armed men were greatly troubled about what had become of Peter. And Herod, when he sent for him, and he was not there, after questioning the watchmen, gave orders that they were to be put to death. Then he went down from Judaea to Caesarea for a time.

And it came about that while Peter was going through all parts of the country he came to the saints who were living at Lydda. And there was a certain man there, named Aeneas, who for eight years had been in bed, without power of moving. And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you well: get up and make your bed. And straight away he got up. read more.
And all those living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and were turned to the Lord.

And on the day after, we went away and came to Caesarea, where we were guests in the house of Philip, the preacher, who was one of the seven. And he had four daughters, virgins, who were prophets. And while we were waiting there for some days, a certain prophet, named Agabus, came down from Judaea.

And when we were safe, we made the discovery that the island was named Melita. And the simple people living there were uncommonly kind to us, for they made a fire for us, and took us in, because it was raining and cold. But when Paul had got some sticks together and put them on the fire, a snake came out, because of the heat, and gave him a bite on the hand. read more.
And when the people saw it hanging on his hand, they said to one another, Without doubt this man has put someone to death, and though he has got safely away from the sea, God will not let him go on living. But shaking off the beast into the fire, he got no damage. But they had the idea that they would see him becoming ill, or suddenly falling down dead; but after waiting a long time, and seeing that no damage came to him, changing their opinion, they said he was a god. Now near that place there was some land, the property of the chief man of the island, who was named Publius; who very kindly took us into his house as his guests for three days. And the father of Publius was ill, with a disease of the stomach; to whom Paul went, and put his hands on him, with prayer, and made him well. And when this took place, all the others in the island who had diseases came and were made well. Then they gave us great honour, and, when we went away, they put into the ship whatever things we were in need of.

Now there came a day when Elisha went to Shunem, and there was a woman of high position living there, who made him come in and have a meal with her. And after that, every time he went by, he went into her house for a meal. And she said to her husband, Now I see that this is a holy man of God, who comes by day after day. So let us make a little room on the wall; and put a bed there for him, and a table and a seat and a light; so that when he comes to us, he will be able to go in there.

Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the touch of the Apostles' hands, he made them an offering of money, saying, Give me this power, so that when I put my hands on anyone he may get the Holy Spirit. But Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price. read more.
You have no part in this business, because your heart is not right before God. Let your heart be changed, and make prayer to God that you may have forgiveness for your evil thoughts. For I see that you are prisoned in bitter envy and the chains of sin.

And when they had gone through all the island to Paphos, they came across a certain wonder-worker and false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus; Who was with the ruler, Sergius Paulus, an able man. This man sent for Barnabas and Saul, desiring to have knowledge of the word of God. But Elymas, the wonder-worker (for that is the sense of his name), put himself against them, with the purpose of turning the ruler from the faith. read more.
But Saul, whose other name is Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking hard at him, said, O you, who are full of false tricks and evil ways, a son of the Evil One, hating all righteousness, will you for ever be turning people from the right ways of the Lord? And now, see, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind and not able to see the sun for a time. And straight away a dark mist came down on him; and he went about looking for a guide.

It was not possible to keep it at that time, because not enough priests had made themselves holy, and the people had not come together in Jerusalem.

So it was ordered that word was to be sent out through all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, that they were to come to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: because they had not kept it in great numbers in agreement with the law.

Now Miriam and Aaron said evil against Moses, because of the Cushite woman to whom he was married, for he had taken a Cushite woman as his wife. And they said, Have the words of the Lord been given to Moses only? have they not come to us? And the Lord took note of it. Now the man Moses was more gentle than any other man on earth. read more.
And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, Come out, you three, to the Tent of meeting. And the three of them went out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, taking his place at the door of the Tent, and made Aaron and Miriam come before him. And he said, Now give ear to my words: if there is a prophet among you I will give him knowledge of myself in a vision and will let my words come to him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so; he is true to me in all my house: With him I will have talk mouth to mouth, openly and not in dark sayings; and with his eyes he will see the form of the Lord: why then had you no fear of saying evil against my servant Moses? And burning with wrath against them, the Lord went away. And the cloud was moved from over the Tent; and straight away Miriam became a leper, as white as snow: and Aaron, looking at Miriam, saw that she was a leper. Then Aaron said to Moses, O my lord, let not our sin be on our heads, for we have done foolishly and are sinners. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half wasted when he comes out from the body of his mother.

Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the touch of the Apostles' hands, he made them an offering of money, saying, Give me this power, so that when I put my hands on anyone he may get the Holy Spirit. But Peter said, May your money come to destruction with you, because you had the idea that what is freely given by God may be got for a price. read more.
You have no part in this business, because your heart is not right before God. Let your heart be changed, and make prayer to God that you may have forgiveness for your evil thoughts. For I see that you are prisoned in bitter envy and the chains of sin.

For if the operation of the law, giving death, recorded in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the eyes of the children of Israel had to be turned away from the face of Moses because of its glory, a glory which was only for a time: Will not the operation of the Spirit have a much greater glory? For if the operation of the law, producing punishment, had its glory, how much greater will be the operation of the Spirit causing righteousness? read more.
For the glory of the first no longer seems to be glory, because of the greater glory of that which comes after. For if the order which was for a time had its glory, much more will the eternal order have its glory.

I gave orders to Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus make any profit out of you? were we not guided by the same Spirit, in the same ways?

And he came to Derbe and Lystra: and there was a certain disciple there named Timothy, whose mother was one of the Jews of the faith, but his father was a Greek; Of whom the brothers at Lystra and Iconium had a high opinion. Paul had a desire for him to go with him, and he gave him circumcision because of the Jews who were in those parts: for they all had knowledge that his father was a Greek. read more.
And on their way through the towns, they gave them the rules which had been made by the Apostles and the rulers of the church at Jerusalem, so that they might keep them.

And while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the Holy Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for which they have been marked out by me. Then, after prayer and going without food they put their hands on them, and sent them away.

Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, burning with wrath against him because of this thing. And at the same time Asa was cruel to some of the people.

But there was a certain man named Simon, who in the past had been a wonder-worker and a cause of surprise to the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was a great man: To whom they all gave attention, from the smallest to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is named Great. And they gave attention to him, because for a long time his wonder-working powers had kept them under his control.

So it is no great thing if his servants make themselves seem to be servants of righteousness; whose end will be the reward of their works.

And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their vessels and put fire in them and perfume, burning strange fire before the Lord, which he had not given them orders to do. And fire came out from before the Lord, burning them up and causing their destruction before the Lord.

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Up! go to Nineveh, that great town, and let your voice come to it; for their evil-doing has come up before me. And Jonah got up to go in flight to Tarshish, away from the Lord; and he went down to Joppa, and saw there a ship going to Tarshish: so he gave them the price of the journey and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the Lord. read more.
And the Lord sent out a great wind on to the sea and there was a violent storm in the sea, so that the ship seemed in danger of being broken. Then the sailors were full of fear, every man crying to his god; and the goods in the ship were dropped out into the sea to make the weight less. But Jonah had gone down into the inmost part of the ship where he was stretched out in a deep sleep. And the ship's captain came to him and said to him, What are you doing sleeping? Up! say a prayer to your God, if by chance God will give a thought to us, so that we may not come to destruction.

In all things see that you are an example of good works; holy in your teaching, serious in behaviour, Saying true and right words, against which no protest may be made, so that he who is not on our side may be put to shame, unable to say any evil of us.

Then Judas, who was false to him, seeing that he was to be put to death, in his regret took back the thirty bits of silver to the chief priests and those in authority, Saying, I have done wrong in giving into your hands an upright man. But they said, What is that to us? it is your business. And he put down the silver in the Temple and went out, and put himself to death by hanging. read more.
And the chief priests took the silver and said, It is not right to put it in the Temple store for it is the price of blood. And they made a decision to get with the silver the potter's field, as a place for the dead of other countries.

And he said to him, Now say to her, See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? will you have any request made for you to the king or the captain of the army? But she said, I am living among my people.

And having sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia, he himself went on living in Asia for a time.

And so we have sent Judas and Silas, who will say the same things to you themselves, by word of mouth.

But Paul took Silas and went away with the blessing of the brothers.

And he was preaching in the Synagogue without fear. But Priscilla and Aquila, hearing his words, took him in, and gave him fuller teaching about the way of God.

And this saying was pleasing to all of them: and they made selection of Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch, who had become a Jew: These they took to the Apostles, who, after prayer, put their hands on them.

Make use of that grace in you, which was given to you by the word of the prophets, when the rulers of the church put their hands on you.

This holy part of the land is to be for the priests, the servants of the holy place, who come near to the Lord to do his work; it is to be a place for their houses and for grass-land and for cattle.

Let the priests, the servants of the Lord, be weeping between the covered way and the altar, and let them say, Have mercy on your people, O Lord, do not give up your heritage to shame, so that the nations become their rulers: why let them say among the peoples, Where is their God?

Making distribution among one another of whatever has been given to you, like true servants of the unmeasured grace of God;

For it is not right for the Lord's servant to make trouble, but he is to be gentle to all, ready in teaching, putting up with wrong,

And I will put over them keepers who will take care of them: never again will they be overcome with fear or be troubled, and there will not be the loss of one of them, says the Lord

And I was very sad, because there was no one able to get the book open or to see what was in it. And one of the rulers said to me, Do not be sad: see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and has power to undo the book and its seven stamps.

If any question comes up about Titus, he is my brother-worker, working with me for you; or about the others, they are the representatives of the churches to the glory of Christ.

So we are the representatives of Christ, as if God was making a request to you through us: we make our request to you, in the name of Christ, be at peace with God.

He was a burning and shining light, and for a time you were ready to be happy in his light.

In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers, door-keepers, Nethinim, or any servants of this house of God.

Take as an example of pain nobly undergone and of strength in trouble, the prophets who gave to men the words of the Lord.

And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace?

Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood.

And moving from there, he went into the house of a man named Titus Justus, a God-fearing man, whose house was very near the Synagogue.

And because he was of the same trade, he was living with them, and they did their work together; for by trade they were tent-makers.

And he was living in Joppa for some time with Simon, a leather-worker.

Then, after prayer and going without food they put their hands on them, and sent them away.

And they put it to the decision of chance, and the decision was given for Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles.

Who has made us able to be servants of a new agreement; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter gives death, but the Spirit gives life.

I sent a letter to the church, but Diotrephes, whose desire is ever to have the first place among them, will not have us there.

Keep in mind, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and what they did, and Noadiah, the woman prophet, and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to put fear into me.

Let us be judged as servants of Christ, and as those who are responsible for the secret things of God.

For it is necessary for a Bishop to be a man of virtue, as God's servant; not pushing himself forward, not quickly moved to wrath or blows, not desiring profit for himself;

For our preaching is not about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants through Jesus.

Tychicus will give you news of all my business: he is a dear brother and true servant and helper in the word;

We sent Timothy, our brother and God's servant in the good news of Christ, to give you strength and comfort in your faith;

Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, in agreement with the faith of the saints of God and the full knowledge of what is true in harmony with religion,

So it is right for me to take thought for you all in this way, because I have you in my heart; for in my chains, and in my arguments before the judges in support of the good news, making clear that it is true, you all have your part with me in grace.

And did not have mercy on the world which then was, but only kept safe Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he let loose the waters over the world of the evil-doers;

For it is right for the priest's lips to keep knowledge, and for men to be waiting for the law from his mouth: for he is the servant sent from the Lord of armies.

And he said to them, This is what Micah did for me, and he gave me payment and I became his priest.

And he gave orders to the twelve, and sent them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits;

As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,

We then, working together with God, make our request to you not to take the grace of God to no purpose.