And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.

But they do all their works to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and the tassels of their garments long.

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

Some fell on rocky places, where they did not have much soil, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of soil.

But he who received the seed on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was outside in the deserted places; and people came to him from every quarter.

And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places

and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth;

So he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noted how they chose the places of honor, saying to them:

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'

"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

Paul wanted this man to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.