In this way my testimony to Christ has been confirmed in your experience,

Is He not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother's name Mary, are not His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

Now while the people were on tiptoe in their expectations, and they were all arguing in their hearts about John whether he was himself the Christ,

And they were dumbfounded at His teaching, for He was teaching them like one who had authority to teach, and not like the scribes.

For you may be absolutely sure that no one who is sexually impure, immoral or greedy for gain (for that is idolatry) can have a part in the kingdom of Christ and God.

and so the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham put his faith in God, and it was credited to him for uprightness, and he was called God's friend."

So if they say to you, 'Here He is in the desert,' do not go out to see. Or 'Here He is in some secret place,' do not believe it.

Then I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a book with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.

For this reason I now remind you to rekindle and keep burning the fire of the divine gift which came upon you when I laid my hands upon you.

They were perfectly astounded, and in bewilderment they continued to say, "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?

I have given them your message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to it.

And if they had been cherishing the memory of the country they had left, they would have had an opportunity to go back.

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

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

Stop stifling the Spirit.

Then He said to them, "To you the secret of the kingdom of God has been entrusted, but to those who are on the outside everything is presented in stories, so that

which is His body, that is being filled by Him who fills everything everywhere.

Then let us stop criticizing one another; instead, do this, determine to stop putting stumbling blocks or hindrances in your brother's way.

Your adornments must be not of an external nature, with braids of hair or ornaments of gold, or changes of dress,

After saying this Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and solemnly said, "I most solemnly say to you, one of you is going to betray me."

Alas for the women who are pregnant and those who have nursing babies in those days! For there will be great misery in the land and wrath on this people.

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor's palace. It was early in the morning, and they would not go into the governor's palace themselves, in order not to be defiled, so as to be unfit to eat the Passover supper.

Then he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say to him, 'Send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is called Peter, to come over;

Then the Pharisees went and made a plot to trap Him in argument.

and needed no testimony from anyone about them, for He well knew what was in human nature.

And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you are to go down to the regions of the dead.

For we needed such a High Priest, holy, innocent, unstained, far removed from sinful men, and elevated far above the very heavens,

Keep on living upright lives among the heathen, so that, when they slander you as evildoers, by what they see of your good deeds they may come to praise God on the judgment day.

They profess to know God, but by their actions they disown Him; they are detestable, disobedient, and useless for anything good.

On the first day of every week each of you must put aside and store up something in proportion as he is prospered, so that no contributions need be made when I come back.

and a slave of the Lord must not quarrel but must be gentle to everybody; he must be a skillful teacher, and not resentful under injuries.

And the tongue is a fire, and takes its place among the parts of our bodies as a world of evil; it soils the whole body and sets on fire the circle of man's nature, and itself is set on fire by hell.

After this I heard something like the loud shout of a great multitude in heaven, saying: "Praise the Lord! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,

For on the Lord's own authority we say that those of us who may be left behind and are still living when the Lord comes back, will have no advantage at all over those who have fallen asleep.

And I will permit my two witnesses, clothed in sackcloth, to prophesy for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days."

For certain persons have sneaked in -- their doom was written down long ago -- godless persons, who turn the favor of our God into an excuse for licentiousness, and disown our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Remember what I once told you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too.

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

For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants, that he should own the world, was not conditioned on the law, but on the right standing he had with God through faith.

"So one of these men who have been associated with us all the time the Lord Jesus came and went among us,

Omitted Text.

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, except the coat, which was without a seam, woven in one piece from top to bottom,

Simon Peter answered Him, "To whom can we go, Lord? You have the message that gives eternal life,

Then the day of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

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

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dotting of an 'i' in the law to fail.

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

Just the opposite: God chose what the world calls foolish to put the wise to shame, what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame,

His feet were like bronze refined to white heat in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.

Now the feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was drawing near.

You must be patient, too; you must put iron into your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is close at hand.

By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, offered Isaac as a sacrifice; that is, he who had received the promise was starting to offer as a sacrifice his only son,

"I know what you are doing, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.

He cuts away any branch on me that stops bearing fruit, and He repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more.

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

May God, who gives men patient endurance and encouragement, grant you such harmony with one another, in accordance with the standard which Christ Jesus sets,

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another's feet.

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

Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that His nature is like gold or silver or stone or anything carved by man's art and thought.

In this way is shown the patient endurance of God's people, who always cling to God's commands and their faith in Jesus.

Now there were devout Jews from every part of the world living in Jerusalem.

and to the very end He will guarantee that you are vindicated at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

So the rest of the disciples kept saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail prints in His hands, and put my finger into them, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe it!"

if I can make my fellow-countrymen jealous, and so save some of them.

What does "He went up" mean, except that He had first gone down into the lower regions of the earth?

Tell me, you who want to be subject to law, will you not listen to what the law says?

Then Herod, because he saw that a trick had been played on him by the stargazers, was very angry, and sent and slaughtered all the boy babies in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood, from two years down, in accordance with the time which he had found out from the stargazers.

But, as you say, if the truthfulness of God has redounded to His glory because of my falsehood, why am I still condemned as a sinner?

Now my soul is troubled; what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour of agony! And yet it was for this very purpose that I came to this hour of agony.

For whoever wants to save his higher life, will have to give up the lower life, and whoever gives up his lower life for me and for the good news, will save the higher life.

He is not here; He has risen, as He said He would do. Come, get a look at the place where He was lying.

Then he took Him to Jerusalem, and had Him stand on the tip-top turret of the temple, and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here,

And at once the curtain of the sanctuary was torn from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks were split,

With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in God's likeness.

Then He was traveling from town to town and from village to village, teaching and making His way toward Jerusalem.

For since in accordance with the wisdom of God the world had never in reality, by means of its wisdom, come to know God, God chose through the nonsense of the message proclaimed, to save the people who put their faith in Him.

Now the apostles returned and told Jesus all that they had done. Then He took them and privately retired to a town called Bethsaida.

"But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons, He came to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in my vineyard today.'

But if Christ lives in you, although your bodies must die because of sin, your spirits are now enjoying life because of right standing with God.

Now Moses was faithful in all the house of God, yet only as a servant to bear witness to the message that should be spoken,

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

At that time you were without any connection with Christ; you were aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the sacred compacts made by God's promise, with no hope, and no God in the world.

nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

the latter, indeed, are doing so from love to me, for they know that I am providentially put here to defend the good news;

and those whom He marked off as His own He also calls; and those whom He calls He brings into right standing with Himself; those whom He brings into right standing with Himself He also glorifies.

For it has been graciously granted to you for Christ's sake, not only to trust in Him but also to suffer for Him,

Jesus said, "I solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farm for me and for the good news,

they did not try it even for the sake of the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who stole in to spy out the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to make us slaves again.

Therefore, practice receiving one another into full Christian fellowship, just as Christ has so received you to Himself.

He has sent His message to the descendants of Israel, by telling them the good news of peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all.

For by the death He died He once for all ended His relation to sin, and by the life He now is living He lives in unbroken relation to God.

The Jews retorted, "It is not for a good deed but for blasphemy we are going to stone you; namely, because you, although a mere man, claim to be God."

so that, at the coming of the climax of the ages, everything in heaven and on earth should be unified through Christ,

So many of His disciples, when they heard it, said, "This teaching is hard to take in. Who can listen to it?"

By faith Noah, on being divinely warned about things not seen as yet, in reverence prepared an ark for saving his family, and by his faith condemned the world and became possessor of the uprightness that results from faith.

It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck, and he be hurled into the sea, than for him to ensnare one of these lowly ones.

I tell you, everyone who owns me before men the Son of Man will own before the angels of God;

and be actually in union with Him, not having a supposed right standing with God which depends on my doing what the law commands, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the real right standing with God which originates from Him and rests on faith.

Do not be so misled: "Evil companionships corrupt good character."

that all men may honor the Son as they do the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

They forced a certain passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry His cross -- Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

Therefore, a man must leave his father and mother and so perfectly unite himself to his wife that the two shall be one.

Then they left there and were making a trip through Galilee, and He did not want anybody to know it;

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

In just the same way these dreamers defile the body, discard authority, and deride the majesties.

you must approve what is pleasing to the Lord.

A little yeast will transform the whole dough.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked permission of Pilate to remove the body of Jesus, and Pilate granted it. So he went and removed His body.

so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord to His full satisfaction, by perennially bearing fruit in every good enterprise and by a steady growth in fuller knowledge of God;

to the festal gathering and assembly of God's firstborn sons enrolled as citizens in heaven, to a Judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of upright men who have attained perfection,

then those of us who are still living will be caught up along with them on clouds in the air to meet the Lord, and so we shall be with the Lord forever.

You must judge for yourselves in this matter. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with nothing on her head?

God also continued to do such wonder-works through Paul

"The eye is the very lamp of the body. If then your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.

For the civil authorities are God's servants to do you good. But if you practice doing wrong, you should dread them, for they do not wield the sword for nothing. Indeed, they are God's servants to inflict punishment upon people who do wrong.

In what respect, then, were you inferior to the rest of the churches, except for the fact that I, and I only, never received from you any financial support? Please forgive me this wrong.

Whoever is not in partnership with me is against me, and whoever does not gather in partnership with me scatters.

while we will go on devoting ourselves to prayer and the word of God."

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

and yet I am cheerful and confident, but really I prefer to be away from home in the body and to be at home with the Lord.

He must turn, too, away from evil and do right; He must seek peace and follow it,

The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years had ended. This is the first resurrection.

(Now all the Athenians and foreign visitors in Athens used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to the latest new thing out.)

For when He finally judges, He will pay everyone with exactness for what he has done,

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

The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life after you had hanged Him on a cross and killed Him.

Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'"

Go, learn what this means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want.' It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite."

Then Philip opened his mouth, and starting from this passage, he told him the good news about Jesus.

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

Just so, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinful person who repents!"

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

Philip sought out Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found the One about whom Moses wrote in the law and the One about whom the prophets wrote; it is Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazareth."

Alas for the women who are expectant mothers and those who have nursing babies, in those days!

This is the One about whom I said, 'After me there is coming a man who has already been put before me, because He existed before me.'

So Pilate went back into the governor's palace and called Jesus and asked Him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God; and they will rule over the earth."

(For John had not yet been put in prison.)

Sell your property and give to charity. Provide for yourselves purses that will never wear out, riches that never fail in heaven, where a thief cannot come near nor a moth destroy,

when on that day He comes to be glorified in His consecrated ones and to be admired by all who believe in Him because our testimony has been confidently accepted among you.

If anyone teaches different doctrines and refuses to agree with the wholesome messages of our Lord Jesus Christ, the teaching that is in accordance with true religion,

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

For it is under His direction that the whole body is perfectly adjusted and united by every joint that furnishes its supplies; and by the proper functioning of each particular part there is brought about the growing of the body for its building up in love.

And how can men preach unless they are sent to do so? As the Scripture says, "How beautiful are the feet of men who bring the glad news of His good things!"

Slaves, practice obedience to your earthly masters in everything, not as though they were watching you and as though you were merely pleasing men, but with sincerity of heart, because you fear the Lord.

For this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was coming back from the defeat of the kings, and put his blessing on him,

Be always on your guard; stand firm in your faith; keep on acting like men; continue to grow in strength;

For the commandments, "You must not commit adultery; you must not murder; you must not steal; you must not have an evil desire," and any other commandment if there is any, are summed up in this command, "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself."

Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, these people resist the truth, for they are depraved in mind and so counterfeits in the faith.

"A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead people's bones and everything that is unclean!

As a result of this many of His disciples turned their backs on Him and stopped accompanying Him.

While they were shouting and tossing their clothes about and flinging dust into the air,

Then he took him to Jesus. Jesus looked him over and said, "You are Simon, son of John. From now on your name shall be Cephas" (which means Peter, or Rock).

Hold your position, then, with your waist encircled with the belt of truth, put on right-doing as a coat of mail,

He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, to restore his sight."

Now He was driving a dumb demon out of a man, and when the demon went out of him, the dumb man spoke. The crowds were astonished.

Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas, but I spent only two weeks with him;

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him as follows: "Teacher, we would like to see a spectacular sign given by you."

and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, who was called Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had gone,

Earth and sky will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

For there are many insubordinate people, mere talkers with nothing to say, but deceivers of their own minds, especially those of the circumcision party,

But in your stubbornness and impenitence of heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when the justice of God's judgments will be uncovered.

So they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

Then what is our conclusion, brothers? When you meet together, everybody has a song, something to teach, a revelation, an ecstatic utterance, or an explanation of one. It must all be for the upbuilding of all.

He left the neighborhood of Tyre and went by way of Sidon through the district of the Ten Cities down to the Sea of Galilee.

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

For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you.

Always let your conversation be seasoned with salt, that is, with winsomeness, so that you may know how to make a fitting answer to everyone.

who gave Himself for our sins, to save us from the present wicked world in accordance with the will of our God and Father;

as measured by the glorious good news of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

he foresaw the resurrection of the Christ and told of it, for He was not forsaken to Hades, and His body did not undergo decay.

For I have been informed about you, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that there are wranglings among you.

"O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! The city that continues to murder the prophets, and to stone those who are sent to her, how often I have yearned to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But you refused!

Jesus said to them, "Fill these jars with water." So they filled them up to the brim.

Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him.

Just as you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world, too.

If you know all this, happy are you if you practice it.

Just a week later the disciples were in the room again and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were bolted, Jesus came in and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you!"

While He was at table in the house many tax-collectors and notorious sinners came in and took their seats at table with Jesus and His disciples.

But He would not trust Himself to them, because He knew all men

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

though He did not fail to furnish evidences about Himself, in constantly showing His kindness to you, in sending you rain from heaven and fruit-producing seasons, in giving you food and happiness to your heart's content."

Now while He was in one of the towns, a man covered with leprosy saw Jesus and fell on his face and begged Him, saying, "Lord, if you choose to, you can cure me."

let him who is on the roof of his house not go down and go into the house to get anything out of it;

And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His chosen people from the four points of the compass, from one end of the sky to the other.

Stop letting anyone deceive you with groundless arguments about these things, for it is because of these very sins that God's anger comes down upon the disobedient.

Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste?

On the first day of the Passover Feast the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to get the Passover supper ready for you to eat?"

If some brother or sister is thinly clad and has no food for the day,

In His right hand He was holding seven stars, and a sharp, double-edged sword was coming out of His mouth, and His face was shining like the sun at midday.

But one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping! See! The Lion who sprang from the tribe of Judah, who belongs to the line of David, has conquered, so that He can open the book and break its seven seals."

and among the lampstands One resembling the Son of Man, wearing a robe that reached to His feet, and with a belt of gold around His breast.

Now it is evident that through the law no man is brought into right standing with God, for "The man in right standing with God will live by faith,"

always supplying the needs of God's people, ever practicing hospitality.

He is the stone that was thrown away by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

And the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in adultery. And standing her in the middle,

just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns which like them indulged in grossest immorality and unnatural vice, stand as a perpetual warning, in suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

As for me, myself, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In such a case the hindrance done by the cross has presumably ceased!

As long as I was with them, I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost, except the one who is now doomed to be lost, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

If anyone serves me, he must continue to follow me, and my servant also must go wherever I go. If anyone serves me, my Father will show him honor.

Then He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the manager of the feast." So they took him some.

Finally, my brothers, continue to be glad that you are in union with the Lord. I am not tired of writing you the same things over and over: it means your safety.

And in the temple court He found the dealers in cattle, sheep, and pigeons; the money-changers, too, seated at their tables.

to take a share in this service as an apostle, from which Judas fell away to go to his own place."

The high priest asked, "Are these statements true?"

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him a question, and so He said to them, "Are you inquiring of one another about this saying of mine, 'In just a little while you will not see me, and yet in just a little while after you will see me again'?

And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept saying, "He is under the spell of Beelzebub and by the help of the prince of the demons He drives out the demons."

Then He said to them, "Why is it that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

But solid food belongs to full-grown men who on account of constant use have their faculties trained to distinguish good and evil.

So you must never give up your confident courage, for it holds a rich reward for you.

for since we have been so approved by God as to be entrusted with the good news, we are now telling it, not to please men but God, who proves and finds approved our hearts.

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

So the man who thinks he stands securely must be on the lookout not to fall.

Anyone who keeps on hating his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer can have eternal life remaining in him.

So, when Christ was coming into the world, He said:

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

My life, indeed, is already ebbing out, and the time has come for me to sail away.

Be miserable, mourn ... and weep aloud. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your joy to gloom.

You too used to practice these sins, when you used to live that sort of life.

As far as I am concerned about you, my brothers, I am convinced that you especially are abounding in the highest goodness, richly supplied with perfect knowledge and competent to counsel one another.

So let us keep on pursuing the things that make for peace and our mutual upbuilding.

so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you through union with Him, in accordance with the favor of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

If the meaning of the good news I preach is covered up at all, it is so only in the case of those who are on the way to destruction.

but I began to preach first to the people of Damascus and Jerusalem, and all over Judea, and then to the heathen, to repent and turn to God, and to live lives consistent with such repentance.

He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means, the Christ).

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do."

In the prophets it is written, 'And all men will be taught by God.' Everyone who ever listens to the Father and learns from Him will come to me.

Peter said to her, "How could both of you agree in such a way to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door; they will carry you out, too."

Then Jesus again said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will die under the curse of your sins; for where I am going you can never come."

The woman said to Him, "Give me this water at once, sir, so I may never get thirsty again, nor have to come so far to draw water."

On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and thus Joseph's race was revealed to Pharaoh.

As the day began to decline, the Twelve came up and said to Him, "Send the crowd off to the villages and farms around, to get lodging and to find food there, for we are in a destitute place here."

So after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

He again fixes a definite day, saying long afterward through David, as has been quoted: "If you but hear His voice, you must not harden your hearts."

But God's foundation stands unshaken, with these inscriptions: "The Lord knows the people who belong to Him" and "Everyone who bears the name of the Lord must abstain from evil."

So I want to inform you that no one speaking under the power of the Spirit of God can say, "Jesus is accursed!" and no one except one under the power of the Holy Spirit can really say, "Jesus is Lord!"

By this He referred to the Spirit that those believing in Him were going to receive -- for the Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

just as "Abraham put his faith in God, and it was credited to him as right standing with God"?

In fact, we believe that it is through the favor of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

And angels, who did not preserve their original rank but left their proper home, He has kept in everlasting chains under darkness, for the day of judgment,

chose to unveil His Son in me, so that I might preach the good news about Him among the heathen, at once, before I conferred with any human creatures,

and went into the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary; and they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasure sacks and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Now Paul stayed a considerable time longer in Corinth, and then bade the brothers goodbye and set sail for Syria, accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow.

Whoever loves his lower life will lose the higher, but whoever hates his lower life in this world preserves the higher for eternal life.

So write what you have seen, what is and what is to take place hereafter.

But as I am giving you these instructions I cannot approve of your meetings, because they do not turn out for the better but for the worse.

No one has taken it from me, but I am giving it as a free gift. I have the right to give it and I have the right to take it back. I have gotten this order from my Father."

And He appointed the Twelve, to whom He gave the title, apostles, to be with Him, to send them forth to preach,

And you will be hated by all men, because you bear my name, but whoever bears up to the end will be saved.

He has made known to us the secret of His will, which is in accordance with His purpose which He planned in Christ,

I have come in my Father's name, but you refuse to accept me. If anyone else should come in his own name, you would accept him.

For whoever is ashamed of me and my teaching, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when He comes back in all the splendor of His Father and of the holy angels.

Let us live becomingly for people who are in the light of day, not in carousing and drunkenness, nor in sexual immorality and licentiousness, nor in quarreling and jealousy.

Just at that time some Pharisees came up and said to Him, "Get out at once! Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you!"

and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, as one by one they continued to confess their sins.

When Jesus heard it, He left there in a boat for a quiet place, to be alone. And when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the towns.

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him.

that their hearts may be encouraged, by having been knit together in love and by having atoned to the full assurance of understanding, so that they may finally reach the fullest knowledge of the open secret, Christ Himself,

Then evil desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is completed, it brings forth death.

and you must stop offering to sin the parts of your bodies as instruments for wrongdoing, but you must once for all offer yourselves to God as persons raised from the dead to live on perpetually, and once for all offer the parts of your bodies to God as instruments for right-doing.

But this One offered up once for all and for all time one sacrifice for sins, and once for all took His seat at God's right hand,

No creature of His can escape God's sight, but everything is bare and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we have to give account.

So you must never be ashamed of me His prisoner, but suffer for the good news in fellowship with me and by the power of God.

When one of you has a grievance against his neighbor, does he dare to go to law before a heathen court, instead of laying the case before God's people?

Yet, when among mature believers we do set forth a wisdom, but a wisdom that does not belong to this world or to the leaders of this world who are passing away;

What difference then does it make? In one way or another, whether in pretense or in sincerity, Christ is being preached, and that is the thing that makes me glad; yes, more too, I will continue to be glad of it,

Alas for them, because they have trod the road that Cain did; for gain they have rushed into Balaam's error and have perished in rebellion like that of Korah!

So if you, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your heavenly Father give what is good to those who keep on asking Him?

Now there was in Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord, I am here."

You are already pruned because of the teaching that I have given you.

Up to this time you have not asked for anything as bearers of my name, but now you must keep on asking, and you will receive, that your cup of joy may be full to the brim.

But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his family, and from time to time many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized.

but I have prayed especially for you that your own faith may not utterly fail. And you yourself, after you have turned, must strengthen your brothers."

They asked Him, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and show no favors to anyone, but teach the way of God honestly.

but you refuse to come to me to get possession of life.

And just as He was saying these things to them, an official came up and fell on his knees before Him, and said, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand upon her and she will come to life."

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

But now I am going away to Him who has sent me, and not one of you is asking me where I am going,

Now He took the Twelve aside and said to them, "Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.

Then they reached Capernaum. When He got home, He asked them, "What were you discussing on the way home?"

Because you say, 'I am rich, I have already become rich, I need nothing,' and you do not know that you are the very one that is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked;

for you surely know that what is genuine in your faith produces the patient mind that endures;

For nature did not of its own accord give up to failure; it was for the sake of Him who let it thus be given up, in the hope

But God's free gift is not at all to be compared with the offense. For if by one man's offense the whole race of men have died, to a much greater degree God's favor and His gift imparted by His favor through the one man Jesus Christ, has overflowed for the whole race of men.

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

And when the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals, I looked and heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"

not that you are to stop all dealings with sexually immoral people of this world, any more than with its greedy graspers, or its idolaters, for then you would have to get clear out of the world.

Those things continued to befall them as warnings to others, and they were written down for the purpose of instructing us, in whose lives the climax of the ages has been reached.

For I feel a divine jealousy for you, as I betrothed you to Christ, to present you as a pure bride to her one husband.

Love never does a wrong to one's neighbor; so love is the perfect satisfaction of the law.

Now Joseph, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, who by the apostles was named Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement,

But, thank God, that though you once were slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching in which you have been instructed,

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued an edict for all Jews to leave Rome. So Paul paid them a visit,

The very One that went down has gone up, too, far above all the heavens, to fill the universe.

for the gracious gifts and call of God are never taken back.

And now, Lord, give attention to their threats and help your slaves with perfect courage to continue to speak your message,

But they will not make any more progress, for their folly will be evident to everybody, as theirs was.

And God, the giver of every spiritual blessing, who through your union with Christ has called you to His eternal glory, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong,

Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet, and go to walking."

But if you do not forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive your shortcomings either.

The Pharisees then said to Him, "You are testifying to yourself; your testimony is not true."

And pray that it may not be in winter,

Jesus reproved him, saying, "Hush up, get out of him!"

Now while some people were talking about the temple, how it was decorated with beautiful stones and votive-offerings, He said,

"But blessed are your eyes, for they are beginning to see, and your ears, for they are beginning to hear.

So He came down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. And He continued to teach them on the Sabbath,

Then I looked and heard the voices of many angels surrounding the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. Their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,

So you must stop forming any premature judgments, but wait until the Lord shall come again, for He will bring to light the secrets hidden in the dark and will make known the motives of men's hearts, and the proper praise will be awarded each of us.

Elijah was a man with feelings just like ours, and yet he earnestly prayed for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

You house-servants must be submissive to your masters and show them perfect respect, not only to those who are kind and fair but also to those who are cruel.

The rest were killed with the sword that shot from the mouth of the horse's Rider, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

it is so because the message that you have heard from the beginning is this: We should love one another.

and because He was perfectly qualified for it He became the author of endless salvation for all who obey Him,

But you, on your part, must always keep your head cool, suffer hardship, do your work as a herald of the good news, and so fill your ministry to the brim.

Keep on thinking in harmony with one another. Stop being high-minded but keep on associating with lowly people. Stop being conceited.

Who can bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who declared them in right standing;

Continue to look after one another, that no one fails to gain God's spiritual blessing; or some evil like a bitter root may spring up and trouble you, and many of you be contaminated by it --

the former are preaching Christ from the motive of rivalry, not in sincerity, supposing that this is making it harder for me to bear my imprisonment.

Of this good news I have been appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.

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

in the hope of attaining, in some measure, the resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead.

So each of us must give an account of himself to God.

I am glad of it now, not because you had such sorrow, but because your sorrow led you to repentance, for you took your sorrow in accordance with the will of God, so that you should not suffer any loss at all from me.

So Ananias left and went to that house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said, "Saul, my. brother, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road on which you were coming here, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

and on recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she failed to open the door but ran and told them that Peter was standing at the door.

Continue to be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

When he became conscious of his situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, were a large number of people had met and were praying.

Then He began to speak to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing."

Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not my own, but it comes from Him who sent me.

The boy's father at once cried out and said, "I do have faith; help my lack of faith!"

Do you think that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not so at all, but rather discord.

For some are born incapable of marriage, and some have been made so by men, and some have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him accept it who can."

Now if I with Beelzebub's help am driving the demons out, with whose help do your sons drive them out?

And you must not call anyone on earth 'father,' for the Heavenly One is your Father.

And Jesus reproved the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured that very moment.

Now in the distance He saw a fig tree covered with leaves, and He went up to it to see if He might find some figs on it, but when He got to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the time for figs.

Although it was now evening, yet since it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

Whoever says, "I know Him," but does not practice obedience to His commands is a liar, and there is no truth in his heart;

surely, then, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from trial and to keep wrongdoers under punishment for the day of judgment,

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He set out for Galilee.

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

In everything you yourself continue to set them a worthy example of doing good; be sincere and serious in your teaching,

For every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes again.

So the Twelve called together the whole body of the disciples, and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave off preaching the word of God to wait on tables.

By faith Abel offered a sacrifice more acceptable to God than Cain did, for by it he was approved as an upright man, since God approved him for the offering he made; and by it he still continues to speak, though dead.

When Christ, who is our life, appears, you too will appear to be glorified in fellowship with Him.

And I might almost say, Levi too, who now collects the tenth, through Abraham paid the tenth,

so that the many phases of God's wisdom may now through the church be made known to the rulers and authorities in heaven,

for you may be sure that such a man is crooked and sinful, even self-condemned.

"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep, and if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and continue to look for the lost one until he finds it?

Because Paul knew that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, he began to cry out in the council chamber, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a Pharisee's son, and now I am on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead."

Yes, I repeat it, anything you ask for as bearers of my name I will do it for you.

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

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were keeping a fast. So some people came and asked Him, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples practice fasting, but yours never do?"

Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our forefathers could not find the simplest food.

And He asked her, "What do you want?" She answered Him, "Give orders that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right and one at your left in your kingdom."

Then some of the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came up and asked Him,

For if you really believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.

so that the genuineness of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even after it is shown by the test of fire to be genuine, may result in your praise and glory and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ.

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

When Jesus had finished this discourse, He left Galilee and went into the district of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan.

Continue to remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and those who are being ill-treated, since you, too, are liable to similar physical punishment.

Whoever conquers will be clothed this way -- in white clothes -- and I will never blot his name out of the book of life, but I will own him as mine in the presence of my Father and His angels.

Deacons, too, must be serious, sincere in their talk, not addicted to strong drink or dishonest gain,

yes, on me, the very least of all His people, this unmerited favor was bestowed -- that I might preach as good news to the heathen the boundless riches of Christ,

By faith Enoch was transplanted from earth, so that he did not experience dying; and he could not be found, because God had transplanted him from earth. For before he was transplanted from earth evidence was given him that he pleased God;

for, if that had been the case, He would have had to suffer over and over again, ever since the creation of the world. But, as it is, once at the close of the ages He has appeared, to put away sin by His sacrifice.

never slack in earnestness, always on fire with the Spirit, always serving the Lord,

You people, whoever you are among you, who try to get into right standing with God, through law have cut yourselves off from Christ, you have missed the way of God's favor.

He will glorify me, because He will take the things that belong to me and tell them to you.

Take your share of hardships like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

to keep His command stainless and irreproachable until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,

For David did not go up to heaven, but he himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand,

You must believe me, that I am in union with the Father and that the Father is in union with me, or else you must do so because of the very things that I am doing.