81 Bible Verses about Church

Which is that the Gentiles have a part in the heritage, and in the same body, and in the same hope in Christ through the good news,

There is one body and one Spirit, even as you have been marked out by God in the one hope of his purpose for you; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

And now I will be no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I come to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given to me, so that they may be one even as we are one.

And let the peace of Christ be ruling in your hearts, as it was the purpose of God for you to be one body; and give praise to God at all times.

Because we, being a number of persons, are one bread, we are one body: for we all take part in the one bread.

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.

We are conscious that we have come out of death into life because of our love for the brothers. He who has no love is still in death.

And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:

So my brothers, well loved and very dear to me, my joy and crown, be strong in the Lord, my loved ones.

After hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have for all the saints,

Those whose hope is in the Lord are like the mountain of Zion, which may not be moved, but keeps its place for ever.

When you go through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not go over you: when you go through the fire, you will not be burned; and the flame will have no power over you.

You will have no fear of the evil things of the night, or of the arrow in flight by day,

So that we say with a good heart, The Lord is my helper; I will have no fear: what is man able to do to me?

He will have no fear of evil news; his heart is fixed, for his hope is in the Lord.

Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:

And I went on my face before his feet to give him worship. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers who keep the witness of Jesus: give worship to God: for the witness of Jesus is the spirit of the prophet's word.

Because of this it was necessary for him to be made like his brothers in every way, so that he might be a high priest full of mercy and keeping faith in everything to do with God, making offerings for the sins of the people.

But you may not be named Teacher: for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers.

And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

My prayer is not for them only, but for all who will have faith in me through their word;

For God is my witness, whose servant I am in spirit in the good news of his Son, that you are at all times in my memory and in my prayers,

Give praise without end for you, keeping you in mind in my prayers;

For this cause I go down on my knees before the Father,

And in all my prayers for you all, making my request with joy,

One prayer have I made to the Lord, and this is my heart's desire; that I may have a place in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, looking on his glory, and getting wisdom in his Temple.

And the light of God was still burning, while Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was,

Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer.

In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated in his place, high and lifted up, and the Temple was full of the wide skirts of his robe.

Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.

Everyone, then, to whom my words come and who does them, will be like a wise man who made his house on a rock;

Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone,

For there is no other base for the building but that which has been put down, which is Jesus Christ.

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;

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.

Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it;

And the Lord their God will be their saviour in that day, giving them food like the flock of his people: for they will be like the jewels of a crown shining over his land.

He came to him in the waste land, in the unpeopled waste of sand: putting his arms round him and caring for him, he kept him as the light of his eye.

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;

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.

Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it;

And the Lord their God will be their saviour in that day, giving them food like the flock of his people: for they will be like the jewels of a crown shining over his land.

He came to him in the waste land, in the unpeopled waste of sand: putting his arms round him and caring for him, he kept him as the light of his eye.

By the rivers of Babylon we were seated, weeping at the memory of Zion, Hanging our instruments of music on the trees by the waterside. For there those who had taken us prisoners made request for a song; and those who had taken away all we had gave us orders to be glad, saying, Give us one of the songs of Zion. read more.
How may we give the Lord's song in a strange land? If I keep not your memory, O Jerusalem, let not my right hand keep the memory of its art. If I let you go out of my thoughts, and if I do not put Jerusalem before my greatest joy, let my tongue be fixed to the roof of my mouth.

And because this house of God is dear to me, I give my private store of gold and silver to the house of my God, in addition to all I have got ready for the holy house;

And Moses took the holy oil and put it on the House and on all the things in it, to make them holy. Seven times he put oil on the altar and on all its vessels, and on the washing-basin and its base, to make them holy.

And when Moses had put up the House completely, and had put oil on it and made it holy, with all the things in it, and had made the altar and all its vessels holy with oil;

And take the holy oil and put it on the House and everything in it, and make it and everything in it holy:

Keep my Sabbaths and have respect for my holy place: I am the Lord.

So that you may be holy and gentle, children of God without sin in a twisted and foolish generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,

For you at one time were dark, but now are light in the Lord: let your behaviour be that of children of light

You are the light of the world. A town put on a hill may be seen by all.

Because of Zion I will not keep quiet, and because of Jerusalem I will take no rest, till her righteousness goes out like the shining of the sun, and her salvation like a burning light.

So may destruction come on all your haters, O Lord; but let your lovers be like the sun going out in his strength. And for forty years the land had peace.

O Lord my God, I put my faith in you; take me out of the hands of him who is cruel to me, and make me free;

The chances of my life are in your hand; take me out of the hands of my haters, and of those who go after me.

All your teachings are certain; they go after me with evil design; give me your help.

Great is the number of those who are against me; but I have not been turned away from your unchanging word.

Rulers have been cruel to me without cause; but I have the fear of your word in my heart.

So keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping.

So though I sent you a letter, it was not only because of the man who did the wrong, or because of him to whom the wrong was done, but so that your true care for us might be made clear in the eyes of God.

In addition to all the other things, there is that which comes on me every day, the care of all the churches.

For I have a fear that, when I come, you may not be answering to my desire, and that I may not be answering to yours; that there may be fighting, hate, angry feeling, divisions, evil talk about others, secrets, thoughts of pride, outbursts against authority;

I am in fear of you, that I may have been working for you to no purpose.

So keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping.

So though I sent you a letter, it was not only because of the man who did the wrong, or because of him to whom the wrong was done, but so that your true care for us might be made clear in the eyes of God.

In addition to all the other things, there is that which comes on me every day, the care of all the churches.

For I have a fear that, when I come, you may not be answering to my desire, and that I may not be answering to yours; that there may be fighting, hate, angry feeling, divisions, evil talk about others, secrets, thoughts of pride, outbursts against authority;

I am in fear of you, that I may have been working for you to no purpose.

And while they were talking and questioning together, Jesus himself came near and went with them.

I keep company with all your worshippers, and those who have your orders in their memory.

But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, we are all united with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son makes us clean from all sin.

Then those in whom was the fear of the Lord had talk together: and the Lord gave ear, and it was recorded in a book to be kept in mind before him, for those who had the fear of the Lord and gave thought to his name.

And they kept their attention fixed on the Apostles' teaching and were united together in the taking of broken bread and in prayer.

And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners? If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men? Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right? read more.
And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them. And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five. And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty. And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty. And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty. And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.

Then Jacob was by himself; and a man was fighting with him till dawn. But when the man saw that he was not able to overcome Jacob, he gave him a blow in the hollow part of his leg, so that his leg was damaged. And he said to him, Let me go now, for the dawn is near. But Jacob said, I will not let you go till you have given me your blessing. read more.
Then he said, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel: for in your fight with God and with men you have overcome. Then Jacob said, What is your name? And he said, What is my name to you? Then he gave him a blessing. And Jacob gave that place the name of Peniel, saying, I have seen God face to face, and still I am living.

Then David the king went in and took his seat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have been my guide till now? And this was only a small thing to you, O Lord God; but your words have even been about the far-off future of your servant's family, O Lord God! What more may David say to you? for you have knowledge of your servant, O Lord God. read more.
Because of your word and from your heart, you have done all this great work, and let your servant see it. Truly you are great, O Lord God: there is no one like you and no other God but you, as is clear from everything which has come to our ears. And what other nation in the earth, like your people Israel, did a god go out to take for himself, to be his people, and to make a name for himself, and to do great and strange things for them, driving out a nation and its gods from before his people? But you took and made strong for yourself your people Israel, to be your people for ever; and you, Lord, became their God. And now, O Lord God, may the word which you have said about your servant and about his family, be made certain for ever, and may you do as you have said! And let your name be made great for ever, and let men say, The Lord of armies is God over Israel: and let the family of David your servant be made strong before you! For you, O Lord of armies, the God of Israel, have clearly said to your servant, I will make you the head of a family of kings: and so it has come into your servant's heart to make this prayer to you. And now, O Lord God, you are God and your words are true and you have said you will give your servant this good thing; So may it be your pleasure to give your blessing to the family of your servant, so that it may go on for ever before you: (for you, O Lord God, have said it,) and may your blessing be on your servant's family line for ever!

Then Solomon took his place before the altar of the Lord, all the men of Israel being present, and stretching out his hands to heaven, Said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on the earth; keeping faith and mercy unchanging for your servants, while they go in your ways with all their hearts. And you have kept the word which you gave to your servant David, my father; with your mouth you said it and with your hand you have made it come true this day. read more.
So now, O Lord, the God of Israel, let your word to your servant David, my father, come true, when you said, You will never be without a man to take his place on the seat of the kingdom of Israel before me, if only your children give attention to their ways, walking before me as you have done. So now, O God of Israel, it is my prayer that you will make your word come true which you said to your servant David, my father. But is it truly possible that God may be housed on earth? see, heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be your resting-place; how much less this house which I have made! Still, let your heart be turned to the prayer of your servant, O Lord God, and to his prayer for grace; give ear to the cry and the prayer which your servant sends up to you this day; That your eyes may be open to this house night and day, to this place of which you have said, My name will be there; hearing the prayer which your servant may make, turning to this place. Give ear to the prayers of your servant, and the prayers of your people Israel, when they make their prayers, turning to this place; give ear in heaven your living-place, and hearing, have mercy. If a man does wrong to his neighbour, and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house: Then let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving your decision against the wrongdoer, so that punishment for his sins may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong. When your people Israel are overcome in war, because of their sin against you; if they are turned to you again, honouring your name, making prayers to you and requesting your grace in this house: Then give ear in heaven, and let the sin of your people Israel have forgiveness, and take them back again into the land which you gave to their fathers. When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because of their sin against you; if they make prayers with their faces turned to this place, honouring your name and turning away from their sin when you send trouble on them: Then give ear in heaven, so that the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, may have forgiveness, when you make clear to them the good way in which they are to go; and send rain on your land which you have given to your people for their heritage. If there is no food in the land, or if there is disease, or if the fruits of the earth are damaged through heat or water, locust or worm; if their towns are shut in by their attackers; whatever trouble, whatever disease there may be: Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house: Give ear in heaven your living-place, acting in mercy; and give to every man whose secret heart is open to you, the reward of all his ways; for you, and you only, have knowledge of the hearts of all the children of men: So that they may give you worship all the days of their life in the land which you gave to our fathers. And as for the man from a strange land, who is not of your people Israel; when he comes from a far country because of the glory of your name: (For they will have news of your great name and your strong hand and your out-stretched arm;) when he comes to make his prayer, turning to this house: Give ear in heaven your living-place, and give him his desire, whatever it may be; so that all the peoples of the earth may have knowledge of your name, worshipping you as do your people Israel, and that they may see that this house which I have put up is truly named by your name. If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayer to the Lord, turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have made for your name: Give ear in heaven to their prayer and their cry for grace, and see right done to them. If they do wrong against you, (for no man is without sin,) and you are angry with them and give them up into the power of those who are fighting against them, so that they take them away as prisoners into a strange land, far off or near; And if they take thought, in the land where they are prisoners, and are turned again to you, crying out in prayer to you in that land, and saying, We are sinners, we have done wrong, we have done evil; And with all their heart and soul are turned again to you, in the land of those who took them prisoners, and make their prayer to you, turning their eyes to this land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I made for your name: Then give ear to their prayer and to their cry in heaven your living-place, and see right done to them; Answering with forgiveness the people who have done wrong against you, and overlooking the evil which they have done against you; let those who made them prisoners be moved with pity for them, and have pity on them; For they are your people and your heritage, which you took out of Egypt, out of the iron fireplace; Let your eyes be open to your servant's prayer for grace and to the prayer of your people Israel, hearing them when their cry comes to you. For you made them separate from all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage, as you said by Moses your servant, when you took our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. Then Solomon, after making all these prayers and requests for grace to the Lord, got up from his knees before the altar of the Lord, where his hands had been stretched out in prayer to heaven; And, getting on his feet, he gave a blessing to all the men of Israel, saying with a loud voice, Praise be to the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, as he gave them his word to do; every word of all his oath, which he gave by the hand of Moses his servant, has come true. Now may the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; let him never go away from us or give us up; Turning our hearts to himself, guiding us to go in all his ways, to keep his orders and his laws and his decisions, which he gave to our fathers. And may these my words, the words of my prayer to the Lord, be before the Lord our God day and night, so that he may see right done to his servant and to his people Israel, day by day as we have need. So that all the peoples of the earth may see that the Lord is God, and there is no other. Then let your hearts be without sin before the Lord our God, walking in his laws and keeping his orders as at this day.

And it came about that he was in prayer in a certain place, and when he came to an end, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, will you give us teaching about prayer, as John did to his disciples? And he said to them, When you say your prayers, say, Father, may your name be kept holy and your kingdom come. Give us every day bread for our needs. read more.
May we have forgiveness for our sins, as we make free all those who are in debt to us. And let us not be put to the test. And he said to them, Which of you, having a friend, would go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, Friend, let me have three cakes of bread; Because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to put before him; And he, from inside the house, would say in answer, Do not be a trouble to me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; it is not possible for me to get up and give to you? I say to you, Though he will not get up and give to him, because he is his friend, still, if he keeps on making his request, he will get up and give him as much as he has need of. And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you. For to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire; and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open. And which of you, being a father, will give a stone to his son, who makes request for bread? or for a fish, will give him a snake? Or for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him?

May there be wide-stretching fields of grain in the land, shaking on the top of the mountains, full of fruit like Lebanon: may its stems be unnumbered like the grass of the earth.

See, you will send for a nation of which you had no knowledge, and those who had no knowledge of you will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, and because of the Holy One of Israel, for he has given you glory.

His light will not be put out, and he will not be crushed, till he has given the knowledge of the true God to the earth, and the sea-lands will be waiting for his teaching.

Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.

For I will make wide your limits on the right hand and on the left; and your seed will take the nations for a heritage, and make the waste towns full of people.

May there be wide-stretching fields of grain in the land, shaking on the top of the mountains, full of fruit like Lebanon: may its stems be unnumbered like the grass of the earth.

See, you will send for a nation of which you had no knowledge, and those who had no knowledge of you will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, and because of the Holy One of Israel, for he has given you glory.

His light will not be put out, and he will not be crushed, till he has given the knowledge of the true God to the earth, and the sea-lands will be waiting for his teaching.

Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.

For I will make wide your limits on the right hand and on the left; and your seed will take the nations for a heritage, and make the waste towns full of people.

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.

And Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, so that he might give him up to them. And hearing what he said, they were glad, and gave him their word to make him a payment of money. And he took thought how he might best give him up to them.

And Satan came into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve. And he went away and had a discussion with the chief priests and the rulers, about how he might give him up to them. And they were glad, and undertook to give him money. read more.
And he made an agreement with them to give him up to them, if he got a chance, when the people were not present.

And the priest will be like the people; I will give them punishment for their evil ways, and the reward of their acts.

And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right? You who are haters of good and lovers of evil, pulling off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones; Like meat they take the flesh of my people for their food, skinning them and crushing their bones, yes, cutting them up as if for the pot, like flesh inside the cooking-pot. read more.
Then they will be crying to the Lord for help, but he will not give them an answer: yes, he will keep his face veiled from them at that time, because their acts have been evil.

Whoever makes any like it, or puts it on one who is not a priest, will be cut off from his people.

Their answer was: You came to birth through sin; do you make yourself our teacher? And they put him out of the Synagogue.

For seven days let your food be unleavened bread; from the first day no leaven is to be seen in your houses: whoever takes bread with leaven in it, from the first till the seventh day, will be cut off from Israel.

But he who is unclean when he takes as food the flesh of the peace-offerings, which are the Lord's, will be cut off from his people.

And does not take it to the door of the Tent of meeting to make an offering to the Lord, that man will be cut off from among his people.

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;

And not joined to the Head, from whom all the body, being given strength and kept together through its joins and bands, has its growth with the increase of God.

For the training of the saints as servants in the church, for the building up of the body of Christ:

So we, though we are a number of persons, are one body in Christ, and are dependent on one another;

Now you are the body of Christ, and every one of you the separate parts of it.

But I say to you that Elijah has come, and they had no knowledge of him, but did to him whatever they were pleased to do; the same will the Son of man undergo at their hands.

He who overcomes will be dressed in white, and I will not take his name from the book of life, and I will give witness to his name before my Father, and before his angels.

If you are wise you will get from me gold tested by fire, so that you may have true wealth; and white robes to put on, so that your shame may not be seen; and oil for your eyes, so that you may see.

And round about the high seat were four and twenty seats: and on them I saw four and twenty rulers seated, clothed in white robes; and on their heads crowns of gold.

After these things I saw a great army of people more than might be numbered, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and languages, taking their places before the high seat and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, and with branches in their hands,

Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Then they will be cruel to you, and will put you to death: and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.

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;

But before all this, they will take you and be very cruel to you, giving you up to the Synagogues and to prisons, taking you before kings and rulers, because of my name.

Keep in mind the words I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they were cruel to me, they will be cruel to you; if they kept my words, they will keep yours.

For I have a fear that, when I come, you may not be answering to my desire, and that I may not be answering to yours; that there may be fighting, hate, angry feeling, divisions, evil talk about others, secrets, thoughts of pride, outbursts against authority;

Because it has come to my knowledge, through those of the house of Chloe, that there are divisions among you, my brothers.

Because you are still in the flesh: for when there is envy and division among you, are you not still walking after the way of the flesh, even as natural men?

But a brother who has a cause at law against another takes it before Gentile judges.

I make request to Euodias and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.

Only, as the Lord has given to a man, and as is the purpose of God for him, so let him go on living. And these are my orders for all the churches.

If any man is in need of food, let him take his meal in his house; so that you may not come together to your damage. And the rest I will put in order when I come.

If, then, the church has come together, and all are using tongues, and there come in men without knowledge or faith, will they not say that you are unbalanced?

Let all things be done in the right and ordered way.

I did not take you with me when I went away from Crete, so that you might do what was necessary to put things in order there, placing men in authority over the churches in every town, as I said to you;

Only, as the Lord has given to a man, and as is the purpose of God for him, so let him go on living. And these are my orders for all the churches.

If any man is in need of food, let him take his meal in his house; so that you may not come together to your damage. And the rest I will put in order when I come.

And the Apostles and the rulers of the church came together and gave thought to the question.

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to put on you nothing more than these necessary things;

(For if a man has not the art of ruling his house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

I will be full of joy in the Lord, my soul will be glad in my God; for he has put on me the clothing of salvation, covering me with the robe of righteousness, as the husband puts on a fair head-dress, and the bride makes herself beautiful with jewels.

I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress.

Awake! awake! put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful robes, O Jerusalem, the holy town: for from now there will never again come into you the unclean and those without circumcision.

And he made answer and said to those who were there before him, Take the unclean robes off him, and let him be clothed in clean robes;

Only, as the Lord has given to a man, and as is the purpose of God for him, so let him go on living. And these are my orders for all the churches.

If any man is in need of food, let him take his meal in his house; so that you may not come together to your damage. And the rest I will put in order when I come.

And the Apostles and the rulers of the church came together and gave thought to the question.

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to put on you nothing more than these necessary things;

(For if a man has not the art of ruling his house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

He who is a servant, and not the keeper or the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and goes in flight, away from the sheep; and the wolf comes down on them and sends them in all directions:

But when he saw all the people he was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper.

Then said Jesus to them, All of you will be turned away from me this night: for it is said in the Writings, I will put to death the keeper of the sheep, and the sheep of the flock will be put to flight.

So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said against the keepers who have the care of my people: You have let my flock be broken up, driving them away and not caring for them; see, I will send on you the punishment for the evil of your doings, says the Lord.

As the keeper goes looking for his flock when he is among his wandering sheep, so I will go looking for my sheep, and will get them safely out of all the places where they have been sent wandering in the day of clouds and black night.

A man whose opinions are not those of the church, after a first and second protest, is to be kept out of your society;

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

Now I, Paul, myself make request to you by the quiet and gentle behaviour of Christ, I who am poor in spirit when with you, but who say what is in my mind to you without fear when I am away from you:

That this man is to be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may have forgiveness in the day of the Lord Jesus.

I said before, and still say it before I come, as being present for the second time, though I am still away from you, to those who have done wrong before, and to all the others, that if I come again I will not have pity;

And I saw the holy town, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, like a bride made beautiful for her husband.

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who gives ear, say, Come. And let him who is in need come; and let everyone desiring it take of the water of life freely.

For I have a very great care for you: because you have been married by me to one husband, and it is my desire to give you completely holy to Christ.

For as a young man takes a virgin for his wife, so will your maker be married to you: and as a husband has joy in his bride, so will the Lord your God be glad over you.

Let us be glad with delight, and let us give glory to him: because the time is come for the Lamb to be married, and his wife has made herself ready.

Lord, who may have a resting-place in your tent, a living-place on your holy hill?

For the first Tent was made ready, having in it the vessels for the lights and the table and the ordering of the bread; and this is named the holy place.

And you are to make a House for me, with ten curtains of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman.

But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things of the future, through this greater and better Tent, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this world,

And I will put my holy House among you, and my soul will not be turned away from you in disgust.

And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place.

And he has put all things under his feet, and has made him to be head over all things to the church,

But saying true words in love, may come to full growth in him, who is the head, even Christ;

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body.

And not joined to the Head, from whom all the body, being given strength and kept together through its joins and bands, has its growth with the increase of God.

Or are you without the knowledge that all we who had baptism into Christ Jesus, had baptism into his death?

For through the baptism of the one Spirit we were all formed into one body, Jews or Greeks, servants or free men, and were all made full of the same Spirit.

For all those of you who were given baptism into Christ did put on Christ.

Having been put to death with him in baptism, by which you came to life again with him, through faith in the working of God, who made him come back from the dead.

And baptism, of which this is an image, now gives you salvation, not by washing clean the flesh, but by making you free from the sense of sin before God, through the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead;

Happy is the man of your selection, to whom you give a resting-place in your house; we will be full of the good things out of your holy place.

When my soul in me was overcome, I kept the memory of the Lord: and my prayer came in to you, into your holy Temple.

In whom all the building, rightly joined together, comes to be a holy house of God in the Lord;

But as for me, I will come into your house, in the full measure of your mercy; and in your fear I will give worship, turning my eyes to your holy Temple.

The Lord is in his holy Temple, the Lord's seat is in heaven; his eyes are watching and testing the children of men.

For there will be a day when those who get in the grapes on the hills of Ephraim will be crying, Up! let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God.

By the rivers of Babylon we were seated, weeping at the memory of Zion,

Make songs of praise to the Lord, whose house is in Zion: make his doings clear to the people.

Keep in mind your band of worshippers, for whom you gave payment in the days which are past, whom you took for yourself as the people of your heritage; even this mountain of Zion, which has been your resting-place.

Is anyone among you ill? let him send for the rulers of the church; and let them say prayers over him, putting oil on him in the name of the Lord.

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

Which they did, sending it to the rulers of the church by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

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:

I did not take you with me when I went away from Crete, so that you might do what was necessary to put things in order there, placing men in authority over the churches in every town, as I said to you;

Go then, and make disciples of all the nations, giving them baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:

He who has faith and is given baptism will get salvation; but he who has not faith will be judged.

Jesus said in answer, Truly, I say to you, If a man's birth is not from water and from the Spirit, it is not possible for him to go into the kingdom of God.

And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.

And he gave orders for them to have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they kept him with them for some days.

Happy is the man of your selection, to whom you give a resting-place in your house; we will be full of the good things out of your holy place.

The passion of my soul's desire is for the house of the Lord; my heart and my flesh are crying out for the living God.

For a day in your house is better than a thousand. It is better to be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to be living in the tents of sin.

Give to the Lord the glory of his name; take with you an offering and come into his house.

Giving praise to God, and having the approval of all the people; and every day the number of those who had salvation was increased by the Lord.

If, then, the church has come together, and all are using tongues, and there come in men without knowledge or faith, will they not say that you are unbalanced?

And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock will my church be based, and the doors of hell will not overcome it.

And if he will not give ear to them, let it come to the hearing of the church: and if he will not give ear to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-farmer.

For first of all, it has come to my ears that when you come together in the church, there are divisions among you, and I take the statement to be true in part.

And when they were taking food, Jesus took bread and, after blessing it, he gave the broken bread to the disciples and said, Take it; this is my body.

And while they were taking food, he took bread, and after blessing it, he gave the broken bread to them, and said, Take it: this is my body.

The cup of blessing which we take, does it not give us a part in the blood of Christ? and is not the broken bread a taking part in the body of Christ?

For it was handed down to me from the Lord, as I gave it to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when Judas was false to him, took bread,

Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.

So take him to your hearts in the Lord with all joy, and give honour to such as he is:

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.

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

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.

Any to whom you give forgiveness, will be made free from their sins; and any from whom you keep back forgiveness, will still be in their sins.

I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever is fixed by you on earth will be fixed in heaven: and whatever you make free on earth will be made free in heaven.

Truly I say to you, Whatever things are fixed by you on earth will be fixed in heaven: and whatever you make free on earth will be made free in heaven.

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.

Give ear to those who are rulers over you, and do as they say: for they keep watch over your souls, ready to give an account of them; let them be able to do this with joy and not with grief, because that would be of no profit to you.

Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone,

And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock will my church be based, and the doors of hell will not overcome it.

Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

But if I am long in coming, this will make clear to you what behaviour is right for men in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of what is true.

And Herod, with the men of his army, put shame on him and made sport of him, and dressing him in shining robes, he sent him back to Pilate.

And for this reason the Jews were turned against Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.

After this, Jesus went from place to place in Galilee. He did not go about in Judaea, because the Jews were looking for a chance to put him to death.

I am conscious that you are Abraham's seed; but you have a desire to put me to death because my word has no place in you.

In the measure of the grace given to me, I, as a wise master-builder, have put the base in position, and another goes on building on it. But let every man take care what he puts on it.

In whom all the building, rightly joined together, comes to be a holy house of God in the Lord;

And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock will my church be based, and the doors of hell will not overcome it.

You, as living stones, are being made into a house of the spirit, a holy order of priests, making those offerings of the spirit which are pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

But they, going through from Perga, came to Antioch in Pisidia; and they went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and were seated.

And he went from there into their Synagogue:

And they came to Capernaum; and on the Sabbath he went into the Synagogue and gave teaching.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.

Not giving up our meetings, as is the way of some, but keeping one another strong in faith; and all the more because you see the day coming near.