because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God's people,

By God's power we will conquer; he will trample down our enemies.

Then God's peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in union with the Messiah Jesus.

As a result, we rejoice about you among God's churches about your endurance and faith through all the persecutions and afflictions you are experiencing.

And this is what demonstrates love: that we live according to God's commandments. Just as you have heard from the beginning what he commanded, you must live by it.

The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be God's Son,"

They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly we are observing the Lord our God's regulations, but you have rejected him.

But if the one who is not a Christian has a desire to go away, let it be so: the brother or the sister in such a position is not forced to do one thing or the other: but it is God's pleasure that we may be at peace with one another.

Then they asked him, "What must we do to perform God's works?"

Then Aaron said to Moses, “This very day they have [obediently] presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but [such terrible things] as these have happened to me [and to them]; if I [and my sons] had eaten a sin offering today would it have been acceptable and pleasing in the sight of the Lord?”

We sent Timothy, our brother and God's servant in the good news of Christ, to give you strength and comfort in your faith;

For if we have faith that Jesus underwent death and came back again, even so those who are sleeping will come again with him by God's power.

Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.

What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Certainly not!

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking [that is, God’s favor by obedience to the Law], but the elect [those chosen few] obtained it, while the rest of them became hardened and callously indifferent;

And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.

So they came to Him. "Rabbi," they said, "we know that you are a truthful man and you do not fear any one; for you do not recognize human distinctions, but teach God's way truly. Is it allowable to pay poll-tax to Caesar, or not?

Seeing that, while we were still powerless, Christ, in God's good time, died on behalf of the godless.

So they put a question to Him. "Rabbi," they said, "we know that you say and teach what is right and that you make no distinctions between one man and another, but teach God's way truly.

So the Twelve called together the general body of the disciples and said, "It does not seem fitting that we Apostles should neglect the delivery of God's Message and minister at tables.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be God's and not our own.

However, the king's daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah's son Joash away from the king's children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That's how King Jehoram's daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada's wife and Ahaziah's sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him.

The first thing Andrew did was to find his own brother Simon and say to him, "We have found the Messiah (which means Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one])."

And we apostles have believed [in you] and know that you are God's Holy One."

But we will continue earnestly in prayer and the preaching of God's word."

And recognizing the grace [that God had] bestowed on me, James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars [of the Jerusalem church], gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we could go to the Gentiles [with their blessing] and they to the circumcised (Jews).

nor [things] above, nor [things] below, nor any [other] created thing will be able to separate us from God's love [for us], revealed through Christ Jesus our Lord [Note: The idea of this passage is "Regardless of what happens to us, God still loves us"].

For we [apostles] have no power [to act] against the truth, but [only] for the truth. [Note: Paul here alludes to his gifts and ministry being intended only to promote what was right according to God's truth].

The end [i.e., of being so predetermined] was that we [Jewish Christians], who had previously placed our hope in Christ, should bring about the praise of God's splendor.

[We also pray that you will be] strengthened with great power, according to God's glorious might, so that you will have great endurance and patience [coupled] with joy.

We do not want you people to be [spiritually] slack, but to imitate those who will inherit [God's] promises because of their faith and patience.

and since we have a great Priest [who is] over God's household [i.e., Christ],

Dearly loved ones, as I was very eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we share in common, I felt it necessary [instead] to write urging you to contend earnestly for the faith [i.e., the teaching of Christ] which was once and for all delivered [by the apostles, See verse 17] to the saints [i.e., God's holy people].

I [am] John, your brother who participates with you in the suffering and kingdom and endurance [which we experience] in [fellowship with] Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos for [preaching] God's message and for testifying about Jesus. [Note: Patmos was located in the Aegean Sea between present-day Greece and Turkey].

They told Aaron:

Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.

"If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, so that he exposes her nakedness and she exposes his nakedness, it's a shameful thing. They are to be eliminated from contact with their people in front of their people's children. He has exposed his sister's nakedness. He'll continue to bear responsibility for his iniquity.

'And now, as a small moment hath grace been from Jehovah our God, to leave to us an escape, and to give to us a nail in His holy place, by our God's enlightening our eyes, and by giving us a little quickening in our servitude;

The earth has yielded its harvest [as evidence of His approval];
God, our God, blesses us.

Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God; and every one who loves the Father, loves him also who is the Father's Child.

The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. It must return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them.

Ye, are doing the works of your father. They said unto him - We, of fornication, were not born: One father, have we - 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].

But Jesus did not say anything. So, the head priest said to Him, "I command you [to swear] by the living God, [and] to tell us if you are the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one], the Son of God!"

But God brought you into [fellowship with] Christ Jesus, who was made to be God's wisdom for us. Through Christ you have received a right relationship with God, [as well as] holiness and redemption [i.e., being bought back from Satan].

For God, who said [Gen. 1:3], "Light will shine out of darkness," has [also] shone in our hearts to provide [us with] the light of the knowledge of God's splendor [as it shines] on the face of Christ. [Note: This allusion to "splendor shining on Christ's face" may be a continuation of the analogy used in 3:13].

and what God's tremendous power [working] in us believers is. [This power is] the same as that utilized by God's mighty strength,

This was done so that now God's many-sided wisdom could be made known through the church, to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms [Note: "Heavenly realms" here refers to the world around us, where these angelic beings (good or bad) view the unfolding of God's wonderful plan],

God's divine power has given us everything [necessary] for [abundant] life and godly living, through the knowledge of Him [i.e., God], who called us by His own splendor and goodness.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

Amram’s children: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.
Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

"Nevertheless, your people's children keep saying, "Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' when all the while it is their way of living that isn't right.

"Now as for you, Son of Man, your nation's children keep gathering together to talk about you beside the walls and at the doorway to their houses. Everyone tells one another, "Please come! Let's go hear what the LORD has to say!'

And all people shall serve him, and his son, and his child's children, until the time of the same land be come also: Yea, many people and great kings shall serve him.

Lotan's children were Hori and Hemam. Lotan's sister was Timna.

Zibeon's children were Aiah and Anah. Anah discovered the hot springs in the wilderness while grazing his father Zibeon's donkeys.

Anah's children were Dishon and Anah's daughter Oholibamah.

"Our father is Abraham," they said. "If you were Abraham's children," replied Jesus, "it is Abraham's deeds that you would be doing.

And when she had opened it she saw the child, and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on it and said, "It is one of the Hebrew's children."

Now in response to the [proclamation of the] good news [about Christ], the Jews became [God's] enemies for the sake of you [Gentiles]. But concerning [God's] select people, these Jews became [God's] dearly loved ones for the sake of their forefathers [i.e, who believed God's promises regarding their descendants].

And as for Moses the man of God, his children were named with the tribe of Levi.

“Listen to us, lord. You are God’s chosen one among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.”

In his name let us continually offer praise as our sacrifice to God??he utterance of lips that glorify God's name.

For the time has come for the judgment to begin with the household of God, and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who refuse God's good news?

But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.

But God hath opened them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searcheth all things, yea the bottom of God's secrets.

"Son of Man, tell Tyre's Commander-in-Chief, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because your heart is arrogant, and because you keep saying, "I have taken my seat, I am a god, seated in God's seat right in the middle of the sea,' and because you're a man, and not a god, even though you pretend that you have a god-like heart"

Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

So then God’s choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human effort [the totality of human striving], but on God who shows mercy [to whomever He chooses—it is His sovereign gift].

Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God’s love for us].

Restore us, God;
look on us with favor,
and we will be saved.

Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.

Then everyone was gripped with fear and gave honor to God, saying, " [Surely] a great prophet has arisen among us and God's [presence] has come to His people."

Faith made Abel's sacrifice greater in the sight of God than Cain's; through faith he gained God's approval as an upright man, for God himself approved his offering, and through faith even when he was dead he still spoke.

And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and God's grace was upon him.

That is why it all turns upon faith; it is to make it a matter of God's favor, so that the promise may hold good for all Abraham's descendants, not only those who are adherents of the Law, but also those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us;

endurance produces character, and character produces hope ??5 a hope which never disappoints us, since God's love floods our hearts through the holy Spirit which has been given to us.

That, by union with Christ Jesus and through the Good News, the Gentiles are co-heirs with us and members of one Body, and that they share with us in God's Promise.

Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of your name. Deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.

Yet grace [God’s undeserved favor] was given to each one of us [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ’s [rich and abundant] gift.

Oh, how inexhaustible are God's resources and God's wisdom and God's knowledge! How impossible it is to search into His decrees or trace His footsteps!

But, when the full time came, God sent his Son--born a woman's child, born subject to Law--

I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home; and he said, "Let us meet together in God's house, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they will come to kill you; yes, in the night will they come to kill you."

So then, just as [God's] judgment came, condemning all people [to physical death] because of one sin [i.e., Adam's]; even so the free gift of being made right with God and [resulting in] life may be received by all people because of one man's [i.e., Christ's] act of righteousness. [Note: This "life" may refer to spiritual life now, or to being made alive in the resurrection, which would reverse the curse of physical death caused by Adam's sin].

And God, who searches our hearts, knows what the Holy Spirit [has] in mind, because He [i.e., the Holy Spirit] goes to God on behalf of the saints [i.e., God's holy people] in harmony with God's will.

So then, you [Gentiles] are no longer foreigners and aliens [i.e., to God's promises. See verse 12], but you are fellow-citizens with the saints [i.e., God's holy people], and are part of God's family.

For God's word is alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates [deep enough] even to divide [a person's] soul [from his] spirit, and his joints [from his] bone marrow [Note: This is figurative language describing the penetrating effect of God's word into a person's spiritual, inner being] and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of a person's heart.

The person who [sincerely] believes in God's Son has the evidence [of it] within his heart, [confirming God's testimony]. The person who does not believe God [i.e., what He says about Jesus], accuses Him of lying, because he has not accepted the [irrefutable] testimony of God concerning [the identity and mission of] His Son.

Look ye on things after the outer appearance? If any man trust in himself that he is Christ's, let the same also consider of himself, that as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.

Among which was Mary Magdalene; and Mary the mother of James and the mother of Joseph; and the mother of Zebedee's children.

Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, and all God's people all over Greece;

Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto men's children: and blasphemy, wherewith they blaspheme:

The grapevine is shriveled and the fig tree is withered, along with the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree and all of the cultivated trees. Truly, joy has evaporated from Adam's children."

He is the reflection of God's glory, and the representation of his being, and bears up the universe by his mighty word. He has effected man's purification from sin, and has taken his seat on high at the right hand of God's Majesty,

They said to him: Caesar's. Then he said to them: Give, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar s, and to God the things that are God s.

Let not your eyes be turned on me, because I am dark, because I was looked on by the sun; my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vine-gardens; but my vine-garden I have not kept.

I have become estranged from my brothers
And an alien to my mother’s sons.

But God's free gift is not at all to be compared with the offense. For if by one man's offense the whole race of men have died, to a much greater degree God's favor and His gift imparted by His favor through the one man Jesus Christ, has overflowed for the whole race of men.