After he had suffered, he had shown himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during a period of 40 days and telling them about the kingdom of God.

The believers continued to devote themselves to what the apostles were teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to times of prayer.

sold a field that belonged to him, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

With his wife's full knowledge, he kept back some of the money for himself and brought the remainder and laid it at the apostles' feet.

After the apostles heard this, they went into the Temple at daybreak and began to teach. The high priest and those who were with him arrived, called the Council and all the elders of Israel together, and sent word to the prison to have the men brought in.

When they brought them back, they made them stand before the Council, and the high priest began to question them.

They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes. Then they rushed at Stephen, grabbed him, and brought him before the Council.

They were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought at a high price from Hamor's descendants in Shechem.

When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son.

Our ancestors brought it here with Joshua when they replaced the nations that God drove out in front of our ancestors, and it was here until the time of David.

You have no part or share in what we're saying, because your heart isn't right with God.

He has sent his word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus the Messiah. This man is the Lord of everyone.

because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And so a large number of people was brought to the Lord.

When he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

When he saw how this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter, too. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, "Tell this to James and the brothers." Then he left and went somewhere else.

It was from this man's descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus.

The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.

They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers.

Once, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of fortune-telling and who had brought her owners a great deal of money by predicting the future.

They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They are Jews

He brought Paul and Silas upstairs into his house and set food before them. He was thrilled, as was his household, to believe in God.

Then they took him, brought him before the Areopagus, and asked, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is?

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jewish leaders gathered together, attacked Paul, and brought him before the judge's seat.

There is a danger not only that our business will lose its reputation but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be brought into disrepute and that she will be robbed of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her."

For you have brought these men here, although they neither rob temples nor blaspheme our goddess.

After the Festival of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and days later we joined them in Troas and stayed there for seven days.

On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul began to address the people. Since he intended to leave the next day, he went on speaking until midnight.

Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. He talked with them for a long time, until dawn, and then left.

When he met us in Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene.

yelling, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place."

"But while I was on my way and approaching Damascus about noon, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

The next day, since the tribune wanted to find out exactly what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, he released him and ordered the high priests and the entire Council to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you."

I wanted to know the exact charge they were making against him, so I had him brought before their Council.

So the soldiers, in keeping with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

"Your Excellency Felix, since we are enjoying lasting peace because of you, and since reforms for this nation are being brought about through your foresight, we always and everywhere acknowledge it with profound gratitude.

and asking Festus to have Paul brought to Jerusalem as a favor. They were laying an ambush to kill him on the road.

Festus stayed with them no more than eight or ten days and then went down to Caesarea. The next day, he sat on the judge's seat and ordered Paul brought in.

So they came here with me, and the next day without any delay I sat down in the judge's seat and ordered the man to be brought in.

The next day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived with much fanfare and went into the auditorium along with the tribunes and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

I have nothing reliable to write our Sovereign about him, so I have brought him to all of you, and especially to you, King Agrippa, so that I will have something to write after he is cross-examined.

After he said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat.

The governor of the island, whose name was Publius, owned estates in that part of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us with great hospitality for three days.

but wrath and fury for those who in their selfish pride refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead.

No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, brought about by the Spirit, not by a written law. That person's praise will come from God, not from people.

Nor can the free gift be compared to what came through the man who sinned. For the sentence that followed one man's offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift brought justification, even after many offenses.

Stop offering the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have been brought from death to life and the parts of your body as instruments of righteousness to God.

and I died. I found that the very rule that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.

For I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith.

to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

So let's keep celebrating the festival, neither with old yeast nor with yeast that is evil and wicked, but with yeast-free bread that is both sincere and true.

The cup of blessing that we bless is our fellowship in the blood of the Messiah, isn't it? The bread that we break is our fellowship in the body of the Messiah, isn't it?

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread,

For as often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the cup in an unworthy manner will be held responsible for the Lord's body and blood.

A person must examine himself and then eat the bread and drink from the cup,

For the body does not consist of only one part, but of many.

If the foot says, "Since I'm not a hand, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it?

And if the ear says, "Since I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it?

Now if all of it were one part, there wouldn't be a body, would there?

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is praised, every part rejoices with it.

Love is always patient; love is always kind; love is never envious or arrogant with pride. Nor is she conceited,

I face death every day! That is as certain, brothers, as it is that I am proud of you in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.

We are not recommending ourselves to you again but are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who are proud of outward things rather than inward character.

I have great confidence in you. I am very proud of you. I am very much encouraged. I am overjoyed in all our troubles.

Now he who supplies seed to the farmer and bread to eat will also supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest that results from your righteousness.

and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey the Messiah.

However, false brothers were secretly brought in. They slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in the Messiah Jesus so that they might enslave us.

You know that it was because I was ill that I brought you the gospel the first time.

which he brought about in the Messiah when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm.

But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.

in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body builds itself up in love.

as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I will be proud when the Messiah returns that I did not run in vain or work hard in vain.

Yet even if I am being poured out like an offering as part of the sacrifice and service I offer for your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with all of you.

God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,

having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.

for the gospel we brought did not come to you in words only, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. Indeed, you know what kind of people we proved to be while we were with you, acting on your behalf.

Women, for their part, should display their beauty by dressing modestly and decently in appropriate clothes, not with elaborate hairstyles or by wearing gold, pearls, or expensive clothes,

Now, however, that grace has been revealed through the coming of our Savior the Messiah Jesus, who has destroyed death and through the gospel has brought life and release from death into full view.

Do not have anything to do with foolish and stupid discussions, because you know they breed arguments.

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering as part of his plan to glorify many children,

It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors at the time when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not remain loyal to my covenant, I ignored them, declares the Lord.

For a tent was set up, and in the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the bread of the Presence. This was called the Holy Place.

Behind the second curtain was the part of the tent called the Most Holy Place,

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests always went into the first part of the tent to perform their duties.

But only the high priest went into the second part, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins committed by the people in ignorance.

The Holy Spirit was indicating by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first part of the tent was still standing.

But when the Messiah came as a high priest of the good things that have come, he went through the greater and more perfect tent that was not made by human hands and that is not a part of this creation.

I especially ask you to do this so that I may be brought back to you sooner.

Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep,

In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it can boast of great achievements. A huge forest can be set on fire by a little flame.

But you boast about your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

For the Messiah also suffered for sins once for all, an innocent person for the guilty, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in a mortal body but was brought to life by the Spirit,

and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a righteous preacher, along with seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people;

suffering harm as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while they eat with you.

They left us, but they were not part of us, for if they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Their leaving made it clear that none of them was really part of us.

After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was made bright by his splendor.