So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Well now, here we are all present before God to listen to what the Lord has commanded you to say."

See here, the Lord's hand will fall on you, and you will be blind, unable for a time to see the sun." In a moment a dark mist fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to take him by the hand.

So Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. "The word of God," they said, "had to be spoken to you in the first instance; but as you push it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, well, here we turn to the Gentiles!

Here they spent a considerable time, speaking fearlessly about the Lord, who attested the word of his grace by allowing signs and wonders to be performed by them.

but Paul shouted aloud, "Do not harm yourself, we are all here!"

But Paul replied, "They flogged us in public and without a trial, flogged Roman citizens! They put us in prison, and now they are going to get rid of us secretly! No indeed! Let them come here themselves and take us out!"

Travelling on through Amphipolis and Apollonia they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue,

but as they failed to find Paul and Silas they haled Jason and some of the brothers before the politarchs, yelling, "These upsetters of the whole world have come here too!

Instead of that, you have brought these men here who are guilty neither of sacrilege nor of blasphemy against our goddess.

Now here I go to Jerusalem under the binding force of the Spirit. What will befall me there, I do not know.

He came to us, took Paul's girdle and bound his own feet and hands, saying, "Here is the word of the holy Spirit: 'So shall the Jews bind the owner of this girdle at Jerusalem and hand him over to the Gentiles'."

So do as we tell you. We have four men here under a vow;

shouting, "To the rescue, men of Israel! Here is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against the People and the Law and this Place! And he has actually brought Greeks inside the temple and defiled this holy Place!"

who ought to have been here before you with any charge they may have against me.

Well, the day after they came here along with me, I took my seat on the tribunal without any loss of time. I ordered the man to be brought in,

"King Agrippa and all here present," said Festus, "you see before you a man of whom the entire body of the Jews at Jerusalem and also here have complained to me. They loudly insist he ought not to live any longer.

They replied, "We have had no letters about you from Judaea, and no brother has come here with any bad report or story about you.

For God has done what the Law, weakened here by the flesh, could not do; by sending his own Son in the guise of sinful flesh, to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

And why? Simply because Israel has relied not on faith but on what they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that makes men stumble ??33 as it is written, Here I lay a stone in Sion that will make men stumble, even a rock to trip them up; but he who believes in Him will never be disappointed.

But here is what faith-righteousness says: ??Say not in your heart, 'Who will go up to heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down).

It is far on in the night, the day is almost here; so let us drop the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of the light;

With regard to food that has been offered to idols. Here, of course, 'we all possess knowledge'! Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.

Here is my reply to my inquisitors.

It is written in the law of Moses, You must not muzzle an ox when he is treading the grain. Is God thinking here about cattle?

Here is a secret truth for you: not all of us are to die, but all of us are to be changed ??52 changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. The trumpet will sound, the dead will rise imperishable, and we shall be changed.

for I have wide opportunities here for active service ??and there are many to thwart me.

(He saith, I have heard you in the time of favour, and helped you on the day of salvation. Well, here is the time of favour, here is the day of salvation.)

'unknown' but well-known, dying but here I am alive, chastened but not killed,

Here am I all ready to pay you my third visit. And I will not be a burden to you; I want yourselves and not your money. Children have not to put money by for their parents; that is what parents do for their children.

Here, listen to Paul! I tell you, if you get circumcised, Christ will be no use to you.

Servants, be obedient to those who are your masters here below with reverence and trembling, with singleness of heart as to Christ himself;

the latter do it from love to me, knowing that I am set here to defend the gospel,

But then, if it is to be life here below, that means fruitful work for me. So ??well, I cannot tell which to choose;

But for your sakes it is necessary I should live on here below.

for he nearly died in the service of Christ by risking his life to make up for the services you were not here to render me.

Servants, obey your masters here below at every point; do not work simply when their eye is on you, like those who court human favour, but serve them with a single heart out of reverence for your Lord and Master.

He is accompanied by that faithful and beloved brother Onesimus, who is one of yourselves. They will inform you of all that goes on here.

not to let your minds get easily unsettled or excited by any spirit of prophecy or any declaration or any letter purporting to come from me, to the effect that the Day of the Lord is already here.

Certain individuals have failed here by turning to empty argument;

and again, 'I will put my trust in him,' and again, 'Here am I and the children God has given me.'

So I said, 'Here I come ??in the roll of the book this is written of me ??I come to do thy will, O God.'

he then adds, Here I come to do thy will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

(for we have no lasting city here below, we seek the City to come).

if you attend to the wearer of the handsome clothes and say to him, "Sit here, this is a good place," and tell the poor man, "You can stand," or "Sit there at my feet,"

But here you are, boasting in your proud pretensions! All such boasting is wicked.

And as you call upon a Father who judges everyone impartially by what he has done, be reverent in your conduct while you sojourn here below;

For thus it stands in the scripture: Here I lay a Stone in Sion, a choice, a precious cornerstone: he who believes in him will never be disappointed.

Here is the message we learned from him and announce to you: 'God is light and in him there is no darkness, none.'

Here is how the children of God and the children of the devil are recognized; anyone who does not practise righteousness does not belong to God, and neither does he who has no love for his brother.

and every spirit which does not confess Jesus [incarnate] does not come from God. This latter is the spirit of antichrist; you were told it was coming, and here it is already in the world.

I was dead and here I am alive for evermore, holding the keys that unlock death and Hades.

After this I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice I had heard talking with me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must come to pass after this."

and heard a loud voice from heaven telling them, "Come up here." So up to heaven they went in a cloud, before the eyes of their enemies.