Now I tell you, Peter is your name and on this rock I will build my church; the powers of Hades shall not succeed against it.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church; and if he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as a pagan or a taxgatherer.

Great awe came over the whole church and over all who heard about this.

(Saul quite approved of his murder.) That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone, with the exception of the apostles, was scattered over Judaea and Samaria.

but Saul made havoc of the church by entering one house after another, dragging off men and women, and consigning them to prison.

Now, all over Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria, the church enjoyed peace; it was consolidated, inspired by reverence for the Lord and by its invocation of the holy Spirit, and so increased in numbers.

The news of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they despatched Barnabas to Antioch.

and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians."

It was about that time that king Herod laid hands of violence on some members of the church.

So Peter was closely guarded in prison, while earnest prayer for him was offered to God by the church.

Now in the local church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Symeon (called Niger) and Lucius the Cyrenian, besides Manaen (a foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

They chose presbyters for them in every church, and with prayer and fasting entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

On their arrival they gathered the church together and reported how God had been with them, what he had done, and how he had opened a door into faith for the Gentiles.

The church sped them on their journey, and they passed through both Phoenicia and Syria informing the brothers, to the great joy of all, that the Gentiles were turning to God.

On arriving at Jerusalem they were received by the church, the apostles and the presbyters, and they reported how God had been with them and what he had done.

Then the apostles and the presbyters, together with the whole church, decided to select some of their number and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. The men selected were Judas (called Bar-Sabbas) and Silas, prominent members of the brotherhood.

he reached Caesarea, went up to the capital to salute the church, and travelled down to Antioch.

From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the presbyters of the church.

Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you guardians; shepherd the church of the Lord which he has purchased with his own blood.

Let me introduce our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae;

Also, salute the church that meets in their house. Salute my beloved Epaenetus, the first in Asia to be reaped for Christ.

Gaius, my host and the host of the church at large salutes you. Erastus the city-treasurer salutes you; so does brother Quartus.

to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, as well as to all who, wherever they may be, invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord no less than ours:

To ensure this, I am sending you Timotheus, my beloved and trustworthy son in the Lord; he will remind you of those methods in Christ Jesus which I teach everywhere in every church.

Outsiders it is no business of mine to judge. No, you must judge those who are inside the church, for yourselves;

And yet, when you have mundane issues to settle, you refer them to the judgment of men who from the point of view of the church are of no account!

Put no stumbling-block in the way of Jews or Greeks or the church of God.

First of all, in your church-meetings I am told that cliques prevail. And I partly believe it.

What! have you no houses to eat and drink in? Do you think you can show disrespect to the church of God and put the poor to shame? What can I say to you? Commend you? Not for this.

That is to say, God has set people within the church to be first of all apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, and speakers in 'tongues' of various kinds.

He who speaks in a 'tongue' edifies himself, whereas he who prophesies edifies the church.

Now I would like you all to speak with 'tongues,' but I would prefer you to prophesy. The man who prophesies is higher than the man who speaks with 'tongues' ??unless indeed the latter interprets, so that the church may get edification.

So with yourselves; since your heart is set on possessing 'spirits,' make the edification of the church your aim in this desire to excel.

but in church I would rather say five words with my own mind for the instruction of other people than ten thousand words in a 'tongue.'

Hence if at a gathering of the whole church everybody speaks with 'tongues,' and if outsiders or un believers come in, will they not say you are insane?

if there is no interpreter, let the speaker keep quiet in church and address himself and God.

women must keep quiet at gatherings of the church. They are not allowed to speak; they must take a subordinate place, as the Law enjoins.

If they want any information, let them ask their husbands at home; it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.

For I am the very least of the apostles, unfit to bear the name of apostle, since I persecuted the church of God.

The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Prisca, with the church that meets in their house, salute you warmly in the Lord.

PAUL an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and brother Timotheus, to the church of God at Corinth as well as to all the saints throughout the whole of Achaia:

Titus is my colleague, he shares my work for you, and these brothers of mine are apostles of the church, a credit to Christ.

You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it,

and when they recognized the grace I had been given, then the so-called 'pillars' of the church, James and Cephas and John, gave myself and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Our sphere was to be the Gentiles, theirs the circumcised.

above all the angelic Rulers, Authorities, Powers, and Lords, above every Name that is to be named not only in this age but in the age to come ??22 he has put everything under his feet and set him as head over everything for the church,

the church which is his Body, filled by him who fills the universe entirely.

and enlighten all men upon the new order of that divine secret which God the Creator of all concealed from eternity ??10 intending to let the full sweep of the divine wisdom be disclosed now by the church to the angelic Rulers and Authorities in the heavenly sphere,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever: Amen.

for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also (though he is the saviour of the Body) is the head of the church;

as the church is subject to Christ, so wives are to be subject to their husbands in every respect.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

in order to have the church as his very own, standing before him in all her glory, with never a spot or wrinkle or any such flaw, but consecrated and unblemished.

For no one ever hates his flesh; no, he nourishes and cherishes it (just as Christ does the church

This is a profound symbol, I mean as regards Christ and the church.

in point of ardour a persecutor of the church, immaculate by the standard of legal righteousness.

You Philippians are well aware that in the early days of the gospel, when I had left Macedonia, no church but yourselves had any financial dealings with me;

Also, he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead ??that gives him pre-eminence over all.

I am suffering now on your behalf, but I rejoice in that; I would make up the full sum of all that Christ has to suffer in my person on behalf of the church, his Body;

for I am a minister of the church by the divine commission which has been granted me in your interests, to make a full presentation of God's message ??26 of that open secret which, though concealed from ages and generations of old, has now been disclosed to the saints of God.

Salute the brothers at Laodicea, also Nympha and the church which meets at her house.

And when this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans; also, see that you read the letter that reaches you from Laodicea.

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

PAUL and Silvanus and Timotheus, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Now I want the men to offer prayer at any meeting of the church; and let the hands they lift to heaven be holy ??they must be free from anger and dissension.

A woman must listen quietly in church and be perfectly submissive;

(if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how is he to look after the church of God?);

in case I am detained, to let you see how people ought to behave within the household of God; it is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the Truth.

No one under sixty is to be put on the church's list of widows; and she must have been only once married,

As it is, some widows have already turned after Satan. ??16 Any believer, man or woman, who has widowed relatives, must give them relief; the church is not to be burdened with them; she has to relieve the widows who really need relief.

to our sister Apphia, to our fellow-soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house:

saying, 'I will proclaim thy name to my brothers, in the midst of the church I will sing of thee,'

Is anyone ill? let him summon the presbyters of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Your sister-church in Babylon, elect like yourselves, salutes you. So does my son Mark.

they have testified to your love before the church. Pray speed them on their journey worthily of God;

I have written to the church; only, Diotrephes, who likes to take the lead among them, repudiates me.

So when I come, I shall bring up what he is doing, babbling against me with wicked words ??and, not satisfied with words, he refuses to welcome the brothers, checks those who want to welcome them, and excommunicates them from the church.

To the angel of the church at Ephesus write thus: ??These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who moves among the seven golden lampstands:

Then to the angel of the church at Smyrna write thus: ??These are the words of the First and Last, who was dead and came to life:

Then to the angel of the church at Pergamum write thus: ??These are the words of him who wields the sharp sword with the double edge:

Then to the angel of the church at Thyatira write thus: ??These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes flash like fire and whose feet glow like bronze.

Then to the angel of the church at Sardis write thus: ??These are the words of him who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your doings, you have the name of being alive, but you are dead.

Then to the angel of the church at Philadelphia write thus: ??These are the words of the true Holy One, who holds the key of David, who opens and none shall shut, who shuts and none shall open.

Then to the angel of the church at Laodicea write thus: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation.

As for the secret symbol of the seven stars which you have seen in my right hand, and of the seven golden lamp stands ??the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

"I Jesus have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches; I am the Scion and offspring of David, the bright star of the morning.

He made his way through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

and the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers day by day.

who have risked their lives for me; I thank them, and not only I but all the Gentile churches as well.

Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.

Only, everyone must lead the lot assigned him by the Lord; he must go on living the life in which God's call came to him. (Such is the rule I lay down for all the churches).

for you have started, my brothers, to copy the churches of God in Christ Jesus throughout Judaea; you have suffered from your compatriots just as they have suffered from the Jews,

So much so, that throughout the churches of God we are proud of you, proud of the stedfastness and faith you display through all the persecutions and the troubles in which you are involved.

If anyone presumes to raise objections on this point ??well, I acknowledge no other mode of worship, and neither do the churches of God.

Have we no right to eat and drink at the expense of the churches?

for God is a God not of disorder but of harmony. [Move 33b-36 to follow vs 40] As is the rule in all churches of the saints,

With regard to the collection for the saints, you must carry out the same arrangements as I made for the churches of Galatia.

Now, brothers, I have to tell you about the grace God has given to the churches of Macedonia.

Along with him I am sending that brother whose services to the gospel are praised by all the churches;

besides, he has been appointed by the churches to travel with me on the business of administering this fund to the glory of the Lord. His appointment has my full consent,

So let them have proof of how you can love, and of my reasons for being proud of you; it will be a proof read by the churches.