Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.”

Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe.

and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.

and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven?

serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;

But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.

After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

“And wanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Council;

ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.”

Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me.

But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;

having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—

other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’”

After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him which they could not prove,

If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

“In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today;

“So then, all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem;

the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews.

But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;

And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, we put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.

and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

At the end of three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,

and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

(as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,

Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says,
“I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation,
By a nation without understanding will I anger you.”

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

but just as it is written,
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.

Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.

If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?

What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;

and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,

whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,

by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.