And at that time I gave orders to your judges, saying, Let all questions between your brothers come before you for hearing, and give decisions uprightly between a man and his brother or one from another nation who is with him. In judging, do not let a man's position have any weight with you; give hearing equally to small and great; have no fear of any man, for it is God who is judge: and any cause in which you are not able to give a decision, you are to put before me and I will give it a hearing.

Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with Aram.

For they have taken their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the peoples of the lands; and in fact the captains and rulers have been the first to do this evil.

And the chiefs had no knowledge of where I had been or what I was doing; and I had not then said anything to the Jews or to the priests or the great ones or the chiefs or the rest of those who were doing the work.

And after looking, I got up and said to the great ones and to the chiefs and to the rest of the people, Have no fear of them: keep in mind the Lord who is great and greatly to be feared, and take up arms for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your houses.

Then I made protests to the chiefs, and said, Why has the house of God been given up? And I got them together and put them in their places.

But Jesus said to them, You see that the rulers of the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them.

For if anyone has a cause at law against you, and you are going with him before the ruler, make an attempt, on the way, to come to an agreement with him, for if you do not, he may take you before the judge and the judge will give you up to the police, and they will put you in prison.

And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town;

And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped.

But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men go. And the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace.

And the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were full of fear on hearing that they were Romans;

As, then, you took Christ Jesus the Lord, so go on in him,

Take care that no one takes you away by force, through man's wisdom and deceit, going after the beliefs of men and the theories of the world, and not after Christ:

Make clear to them that they are to put themselves under rulers and authorities, to do what they are ordered, to be ready for every good work,

And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood;

Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with Aram.

And you, Ezra, by the wisdom of your God which is in you, are to put rulers and judges to have authority over all the people across the river who have knowledge of the laws of your God; and you are to give teaching to him who has no knowledge of them.

And when they take you before the Synagogues and the authorities and the rulers, take no thought about what answers you will give, or what you will say:

For if anyone has a cause at law against you, and you are going with him before the ruler, make an attempt, on the way, to come to an agreement with him, for if you do not, he may take you before the judge and the judge will give you up to the police, and they will put you in prison.

And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town; Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans. read more. And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped. And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely: And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet. But about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners; And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved: and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off. And the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners had got away. But Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here. And he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on his face before Paul and Silas, And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation? And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation. And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away. And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family. But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men go. And the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace. But Paul said to them, They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out. And the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were full of fear on hearing that they were Romans;

Make clear to them that they are to put themselves under rulers and authorities, to do what they are ordered, to be ready for every good work,