"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.

"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then he left them and went away.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!

Again I say, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God."

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor.

From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it.

Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for a sign from heaven to test him.

Sighing deeply in his spirit he said, "Why does this generation look for a sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to this generation."

For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life?

Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

When they heard this, they were delighted and promised to give him money. So Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all amazed.

in holiness and righteousness before him for as long as we live.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch."

Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away.

As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met him who was possessed by demons. For a long time this man had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among the tombs.

What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?

Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

Others, to test him, began asking for a sign from heaven.

As the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

"Would any one of you say to your slave who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, 'Come at once and sit down for a meal'?

For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people,

In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Then he began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time.

So Judas agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus when no crowd was present.

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no basis for an accusation against this man."

(This was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.)

Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.

He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light.

The Jewish leaders replied, "We are not going to stone you for a good deed but for blasphemy, because you, a man, are claiming to be God."

Jesus replied, "The light is with you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, 'Where I am going you cannot come,' now I tell you the same.

Pilate asked, "What is truth?" When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders and announced, "I find no basis for an accusation against him.

Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, "Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation against him."

When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said, "You take him and crucify him! Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him!"

if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man -- by what means this man was healed --

But a Pharisee whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

He did not give any of it to him for an inheritance, not even a foot of ground, yet God promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him, even though Abraham as yet had no child.

and their bones were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

Then the Lord told him, "Get up and go to the street called 'Straight,' and at Judas' house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying,

He said to them, "You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, yet God has shown me that I should call no person defiled or ritually unclean.

Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one but Jews.

and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

When they had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!" Immediately mistiness and darkness came over him, and he went around seeking people to lead him by the hand.

For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

Though they found no basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

So they stayed there for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting miraculous signs and wonders to be performed through their hands.

Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: 'To an unknown god.' Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you.

So after sending two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he himself stayed on for a while in the province of Asia.

For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought a great deal of business to the craftsmen.

A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep while Paul continued to speak for a long time. Fast asleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

While we remained there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

for a crowd of people followed them, screaming, "Away with him!"

When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

When Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

The brothers from there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. When he saw them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

When they had heard my case, they wanted to release me, because there was no basis for a death sentence against me.

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh,

(For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.)

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.

in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

when I go to Spain. For I hope to visit you when I pass through and that you will help me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Now with regard to the issues you wrote about: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman."

Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then resume your relationship, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head.

For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.

Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

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

For even if I made you sad by my letter, I do not regret having written it (even though I did regret it, for I see that my letter made you sad, though only for a short time).

But we will not boast beyond certain limits, but will confine our boasting according to the limits of the work to which God has appointed us, that reaches even as far as you.

For we were not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach as far as you, because we were the first to reach as far as you with the gospel about Christ.

But we did not surrender to them even for a moment, in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

However, it is good to be sought eagerly for a good purpose at all times, and not only when I am present with you.

I wish those agitators would go so far as to castrate themselves!

Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows,

But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person.

realizing that law is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

For perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a little while, so that you would have him back eternally,

You made him lower than the angels for a little while. You crowned him with glory and honor.

but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God's grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.

For a tent was prepared, the outer one, which contained the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this is called the holy place.

For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive.

For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.

And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.