“Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].

“Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted].

“Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the gentle [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.

“Blessed [content, sheltered by God’s promises] are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God.

“Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.

“Blessed [comforted by inner peace and God’s love] are those who are persecuted for doing that which is morally right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].

“Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of [your association with] Me.

And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.

And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

But Peter took him aside, and began to rebuke him saying, "Master, favor thyself, this shall not come unto thee."

Then [Salome] the mother of Zebedee’s children [James and John] came up to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down [in respect], asked a favor of Him.

They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. They said, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere and that you teach the way of God truthfully. You don't favor any individual, because you pay no attention to external appearance.

But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

Jesus beheld him, and had a favour to him, and said unto him, "One thing is lacking unto thee. Go, and sell all that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me, and take up thy cross on thee."

They came and told him, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere. You don't favor any individual, because you pay no attention to external appearance. Rather, you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or shouldn't we?"

So the people came crowding up, asking Pilate to grant them the usual favour.

And Pilate, wishing to do the multitude a favor, released unto them Barabbas.And having scourged Jesus, he delivered Him up that He should be crucified.

“The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.”

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

And whence is this favour shewn me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

because He has looked with favor
on the humble condition of His slave.
Surely, from now on all generations
will call me blessed,

the almighty hath distinguish'd me by the greatest marks of favour: his name be for ever reverenc'd.

the oath which he made to our father Abraham, to grant us this favour,

“Glory to God in the highest [heaven],
And on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased.”

And the Child continued to grow and become strong [in spirit], filled with wisdom; and the grace (favor, spiritual blessing) of God was upon Him.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

And, all, were bearing witness to him, and marvelling at the words of favour which were proceeding out of his mouth; and they were saying - Is not, this, the, son of Joseph?

And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.

And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

And looking toward His disciples, He began speaking: “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are you who are poor [in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for the kingdom of God is yours [both now and forever].

Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are you who hunger now [for righteousness, actively seeking right standing with God], for you will be [completely] satisfied. Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are you who weep now [over your sins and repent], for you will laugh [when the burden of sin is lifted].

Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people hate you, and exclude you [from their fellowship], and insult you, and scorn your name as evil because of [your association with] the Son of Man.

bless and show kindness to those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

And they, when they came to Jesus, earnestly entreated Him, pleading, "He deserves to have this favour granted him,

In that very hour, he cured many from diseases, and plagues, and wicked spirits; and, unto many blind, gave he the favour to see.

Blessed [joyful, spiritually favored] is he who does not take offense at Me.”

And Simon, having answered, said, I suppose, that to whom he bestowed more favor. And he said to him, Thou hast judged rightly,

At that very time Jesus fell into a divine transport, and said, "I magnify thee, O father, the Lord of heaven and earth, for having conceal'd these things from the artful and the crafty, whilst thou hast reveal'd them to the unskilful. justly, O father, hast thou thus dispens'd thy favour."

He also said to the one who had invited him, "When you make a dinner or a supper, don't call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back.

Hath he favour to that servant because he did the things directed? I think not.

so they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you're right in what you say and teach, and that you don't favor any individual, but teach the way of God truthfully.

And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).

For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].

For the Law was given through Moses, but grace [the unearned, undeserved favor of God] and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

and he that was healed, did not know who it was: for Jesus had slip'd away, by favour of the crowd that was there.

However, no body talk'd openly in favour of him, for fear of the Jews.

Simon Peter followed along with another disciple. [Note: Some think this refers to the apostle John himself, but there is no strong evidence in favor of that conclusion]. Now that disciple was [well-] known to the head priest, so was able to enter his courtyard with Jesus

Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Yes, you disowned the holy and righteous One, and asked as a favour the release of a murderer.

And with great ability and power the apostles were continuously testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace [God’s remarkable lovingkindness and favor and goodwill] rested richly upon them all.

Now Stephen, full of grace (divine blessing, favor) and power, was doing great wonders and signs (attesting miracles) among the people.

And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

and which our fathers receiving, they with Joshua, brought into the territory of the nations, whom God drove out from before the face of our fathers, till the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God,

Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.

if therefore God has bestow'd the same favour upon them, as on us, after we had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I make any opposition to the divine will?

When he arrived and saw the grace of God [that was bestowed on them], he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with an unwavering heart to stay true and devoted to the Lord.

Now Herod cherished a bitter grudge against the people of Tyre and Sidon. So in a united body they came to meet him, and after winning the favor of Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended for its food supply upon the king's country.

When the congregation of the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, talking to them were urging them to continue in the grace of God.

A good while, therefore, tarried they, using boldness of speech in dependence upon the Lord, who was bearing witness unto his word of favour, granting signs and wonders to be coming to pass through their hands.

and, from thence, they set sail for Antioch, whence they had been given up unto the favour of God for the work which they had fulfilled.

And God, who knows all hearts, gave His testimony in their favour by bestowing the Holy Spirit on them just as He did on us;

But we believe that we are saved through the [precious, undeserved] grace of the Lord Jesus [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life], in just the same way as they are.”

But Paul was not at all in favor of taking someone who had left them and refused to continue on in the work [of preaching the Gospel] when they were in Pamphylia. [See 13:13].

But Paul chose Silas [who was again in Antioch] and set out [on his second journey], commended by the brothers to the grace and favor of the Lord.

And when Apollos wanted to go across to Achaia (southern Greece), the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples, [urging them] to welcome him gladly. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who, through grace, had believed and had followed Jesus as Lord and Savior,

And going into the synagogue he spoke boldly, for three months, reasoning and persuading in favor of the kingdom of God.

But I do not consider my life as something of value or dear to me, so that I may [with joy] finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify faithfully of the good news of God’s [precious, undeserved] grace [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life].

And now I commend you to God [placing you in His protective, loving care] and [I commend you] to the word of His grace [the counsel and promises of His unmerited favor]. His grace is able to build you up and to give you the [rightful] inheritance among all those who are sanctified [that is, among those who are set apart for God’s purpose—all believers].

just as he was entring into the castle, Paul said to the officer, may I be favour'd with a word? you can speak Greek then, said he?

But when two years were fulfilled, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and desiring to gain favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul in bonds.

Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews, appeared before him against Paul and besought him, Begging favour against him,

And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.

But Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews, answered Paul and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?

for if indeed I am unrighteous, and anything worthy of death have done, I deprecate not to die; and if there is none of the things of which these accuse me, no one is able to make a favour of me to them; to Caesar I appeal!'

unto whom I answered, that it is not a custom of Romans to make a favour of any man to die, before that he who is accused may have the accusers face to face, and may receive place of defence in regard to the charge laid against him.

especially as thou art skilled both in all the customs, and questions which respect the Jews: wherefore I beg the favour of thee to hear me patiently.

but by the divine favour I am still preserv'd alive, testifying to the small and to the great nothing but what Moses and the prophets have predicted should happen: "that Christ should suffer:

For many days we sailed slowly, and then arrived with difficulty over against Cnidus; from this point, as the wind did not further favor us, we ran under the lee of Crete, off Cape Salmone;

and as the harbour was inconvenient for wintering in, the majority were in favour of putting out to sea, to try whether they could get to Phoenix--a harbour on the coast of Crete facing north-east and south-east--to winter there.

saying - Be not afraid, Paul! for, before Caesar, must thou needs stand. And lo! God hath granted to thee as a favour, all them who are sailing with thee.

And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.

It is through Him that we have received grace and [our] apostleship to promote obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name’s sake among all the Gentiles,

Unto all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints, favour unto you, and peace, from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

As they did not seek the favour of God, by worshipping him, God gave them over to a depraved sense, to act unworthy of human nature;

Who, knowing the righteousness of God, that those who commit such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but also favor those who do.

For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another].

and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

Now to a laborer, his wages are not credited as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation [something owed to him].

Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all—

by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

But shall not the act of favour be as the offence? For if by the offence of one the many have died, much rather has the grace of God, and the free gift in grace, which is by the one man Jesus Christ, abounded unto the many.

And shall not as by one that has sinned be the gift? For the judgment was of one to condemnation, but the act of favour, of many offences unto justification.

For if by the trespass of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one (Adam), much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in [eternal] life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Hence then, as through one fault, the sentence was unto all men unto condemnation, so, also, through one recovery of righteousness, the decree of favour is unto all men for righteous acquittal unto life;

But the Law came to increase and expand [the awareness of] the trespass [by defining and unmasking sin]. But where sin increased, [God’s remarkable, gracious gift of] grace [His unmerited favor] has surpassed it and increased all the more,