And I, yes I, tell you, your name from now on is to be Peter, Rock, and on a massive rock like this I will build my church, and the powers of the underworld shall never overthrow it.

But if he does not listen to you, take along with you one or two others, so as to have every word confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, report it to the church.

And if he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as a heathen and as a tax-collector.

So a strange awe seized the whole church and everybody who heard it.

Saul heartily approved of his being put to death. So on that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all of them, except the apostles, were scattered over Judea and Samaria.

But Saul continued to harass the church, and by going from house to house and dragging off men and women he continued to put them into prison.

So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, and as it continued to be built up spiritually and to live in reverence for the Lord, it continued to increase in numbers through the encouragement that the Holy Spirit gave.

Now the news about them came to the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and so they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

and after he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. Now for a whole year their meeting with the church lasted, and they taught large numbers of people. It was at Antioch too that the disciples first came to be known as "Christians."

About that time Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, in order to do them violence.

So Peter was being kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God for him was persistently made by the church.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who is called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen who was an intimate friend of the governor, and Saul.

They helped them select elders in each church, and after praying and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

On arriving there they called the church together, and in detail reported to them all that God had done through them as instruments, and how He had opened to the heathen the door of faith.

So they were endorsed and sent on by the church, and as they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told of the conversion of the heathen and brought great rejoicing to all the brothers.

When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported what God had done through them as instruments.

Then the apostles and elders in cooperation with the whole church passed a resolution to select and send some men of their number with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers.

When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church there; then he went down to Antioch.

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

Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, so as to continue to be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.

On the next day we went with Paul to see James, and all the elders of the church came too.

Now I introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess in the church at Cenchreae,

Remember me to the church too, that meets at their house. Remember me to my dear Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.

Gaius, my host, and host of the whole church here, wishes to be remembered to you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does our brother Quartus.

to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated by union with Christ Jesus, and called to be God's people, in fellowship with those who anywhere call upon the name of Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is a dear child of mine and trustworthy in the Lord's work; he will call to your minds my methods in the work of Christ Jesus, just as I teach them everywhere in every church.

For what right have I to judge outsiders? Is it not for you to judge those who are inside the church,

So if you have the ordinary cases of life for settlement, do you set up as judges the very men in the church who have no standing?

Stop being stumbling blocks to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God,

It is not that you have no houses to eat and drink in, is it? Or, are you trying to show your contempt for the church of God and trying to humiliate those who have no houses? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? No, I cannot praise you for this.

And God has placed people in the church, first as apostles, second as prophets, third as teachers, then wonder-workers; then people with power to cure the sick, helpers, managers, ecstatic speakers.

So, as you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, you must keep trying to excel for the upbuilding of the church.

Hence, if the whole church has met and everybody speaks in ecstasy, and illiterate people or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are crazy?

But if there is no one to explain it, let him keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God alone.

If they want to find out about something, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.

For I belong to the lowest rank of the apostles, and am not fit to bear the title apostle, because I once persecuted the church of God.

The churches of Asia wish to be remembered to you. Aquila and Prisca, with the church that meets at their house, send you their cordial Christian greetings.

Paul, by the will of God an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all God's people all over Greece:

You have heard, indeed, of my former conduct as an adherent of the Jewish religion, how I kept on furiously persecuting the church of God, and tried to destroy it,

And so He has put all things under His feet and made Him the supreme Head of the church,

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

be glory in the church and through Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

for a husband is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the Head of the church, His body, and Saviour of it.

Just as the church is subject to Christ, so the married women in everything must be subject to their husbands.

You married men must love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her,

that He might present the church to Himself as a splendid bride without a blot or wrinkle or anything like it, but to be consecrated and faultless.

for no one ever hates his own physical person, but he feeds and fosters it, just as Christ does the church;

This is a great secret; I mean this about Christ and the church.

by the standard set by zeal, I was a persecutor of the church, and measured by the uprightness reached by keeping the law, I was faultless.

And you Philippians yourselves know that immediately after the good news was first preached to you, when I left Macedonia, no church but yours went into partnership with me to open an account of credits and debits.

Yes, He is the Head of the church as His body. For He is the beginning, the first-born among the dead, so that He alone should stand first in everything.

I am now glad to be suffering for you, and in my own person I am filling in what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for His body, that is, the church.

Remember me to the brothers in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets at her house.

When this letter has been read to you, have it read to the church at Laodicea too, and see to it that you too read the one that is coming from Laodicea.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: spiritual blessing and peace be to you.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

(if a man does not know how to manage his own house, how can he take care of a church of God?).

so that, if I am detained, you may know how people ought to conduct themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

If a Christian woman has widowed relatives, she should help them, and let the church be free from the burden, so that it can help the widows who are really dependent.

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

Is anyone sick among you? He should call in the elders of the church, and they should pray over him, and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord,

Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen along with you, and Mark my son, wish to be remembered to you.

They have testified before the church to your love. You will please send them off on their journey in a way befitting the service of God.

I have written briefly to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to be first among them, refuses to listen to me.

So, if I come, I will remind you of what he is doing, how with malicious insinuations he is talking about me. Not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers himself, he interferes with those who want to do so, and tries to put them out of the church.

"To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write: 'The One who is holding the seven stars in His right hand and is walking among the golden lampstands speaks as follows:

"To the messenger of the church in Smyrna write: "'The First and the Last, who once was dead but came to life again, speaks as follows:

"To the messenger of the church in Pergamum write: 'The One who is wielding the sharp, double-edged sword speaks as follows:

"To the messenger of the church in Thyatira write: 'The Son of God, whose eyes are like coals of fire, and whose feet are like bronze refined to white heat, speaks as follows:

"To the messenger of the church at Sardis write: 'The One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars speaks as follows: "I know what you are doing; you have the reputation of being alive, but in reality you are dead.

"To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The Holy and True One, who carries the keys of David, who opens and no one can shut, who shuts and no one can open, speaks as follows:

"To the messenger of the church in Laodicea write: 'The Amen, the true and faithful witness, the origin of God's creation, speaks as follows:

The open secret of the seven stars that you have seen in my right hand, and of the seven golden lampstands, is this: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

so that we are always boasting of you among the churches of God for your patient endurance and faith, in spite of your persecutions and crushing sorrows which you are enduring.

John to the seven churches in Asia: spiritual blessing and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven spirits that are before His throne,

"Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give to him who conquers the privilege of eating the fruit of the tree of life that stands in the paradise of God."'"

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be hurt at all by the second death."'"

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give to him who conquers some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on it which no one knows except the man who receives it."'"

and I will surely strike her children dead. So all the churches will know that I am He who searches men's inmost hearts, and that I will repay each of you for exactly what you have done.

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches."'"

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches."'"

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches."'"

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches."'"

"I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear this testimony to you for the churches. I belong to the line and family of David; I am the bright morning star."

He journeyed on through Syria and Cilicia and continued to strengthen the churches.

So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.

who once risked their very necks for my life. I am so thankful to them; not only I but also all the churches among the heathen thank them.

Greet one another with a consecrated kiss. All the churches of Christ wish to be remembered to you.

Only, everybody must continue to live in the station which the Lord assigned to him, in that in which God called him. These are my orders in all the churches.

But if anyone is inclined to be contentious about it, I for my part prescribe no other practice than this, and neither do the churches of God.

for God is not a God of disorder but of order, as it is in all the churches of God's people.

Women must keep quiet in the churches, for no permission is given them to speak. On the contrary, they must take a subordinate place, just as the law says.

Now about the contribution for God's people, I want you to do as I directed the churches of Galatia to do.

Now I am going to tell you, brothers, of God's spiritual blessing which was given in the churches of Macedonia,

I am sending with him the well-known brother whose praise for spreading the good news is ringing through all the churches.

Not only that, but he has been selected by the churches to travel with me for this gracious contribution which is being raised by me, so that it may turn out for the glory of the Lord and a proof of my readiness to serve.

As for Titus, he is my partner and comrade in the work for you, while these brothers of ours, the representatives of the churches, will bring glory to Christ.

So you must furnish them, before all the churches, proof of your love and ground for my praising you so highly.

I sponged on other churches by taking pay from them to render service to you,