came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him."

(Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against him.) Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.

If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."

But some of them said, "This is the man who caused the blind man to see! Couldn't he have done something to keep Lazarus from dying?"

(Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should report it, so that they could arrest him.)

For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said,

Jesus could see that they wanted to ask him about these things, so he said to them, "Are you asking each other about this -- that I said, 'In a little while you will not see me; again after a little while, you will see me'?

When I was with them I kept them safe and watched over them in your name that you have given me. Not one of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, so that the scripture could be fulfilled.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor's residence. (Now it was very early morning.) They did not go into the governor's residence so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he went and took the body away.

And a man lame from birth was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called "the Beautiful Gate" every day so he could beg for money from those going into the temple courts.

After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened.

Now when the commander of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were greatly puzzled concerning it, wondering what this could be.

Then a famine occurred throughout Egypt and Canaan, causing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food.

He found favor with God and asked that he could find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.

But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire God's gift with money!

and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, his companions brought him into Damascus.

For three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything.

Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,

but Saul learned of their plot against him. They were also watching the city gates day and night so that they could kill him.

Now while Peter was puzzling over what the vision he had seen could signify, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon's house was and approached the gate.

and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.

In Lystra sat a man who could not use his feet, lame from birth, who had never walked.

Because he could not be persuaded, we said no more except, "The Lord's will be done."

Since I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me.

the commanding officer ordered Paul to be brought back into the barracks. He told them to interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash so that he could find out the reason the crowd was shouting at Paul in this way.

Because I was at a loss how I could investigate these matters, I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of His Majesty the Emperor, I ordered him to be kept under guard until I could send him to Caesar."

Paul replied, "I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains."

Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar."

The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius, treating Paul kindly, allowed him to go to his friends so they could provide him with what he needed.

Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there. They hoped that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought they could carry out their purpose, so they weighed anchor and sailed close along the coast of Crete.

When the ship was caught in it and could not head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.

But the centurion, wanting to save Paul's life, prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land,

Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?

And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, so that he would become the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God.

For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

For I could wish that I myself were accursed -- cut off from Christ -- for the sake of my people, my fellow countrymen,

if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them.

Then you will say, "The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in."

So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

Already you are satisfied! Already you are rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you had become kings so that we could reign with you!

But if the ministry that produced death -- carved in letters on stone tablets -- came with glory, so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory which was made ineffective),

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that could defile the body and the spirit, and thus accomplish holiness out of reverence for God.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich.

Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you could be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you free of charge?

I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you!

to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being,

I do not set aside God's grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given -- because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ -- to those who believe.

Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.

I wish I could be with you now and change my tone of voice, because I am perplexed about you.

since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died. He risked his life so that he could make up for your inability to serve me.

although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became little children among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children,

So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone.

So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that in me as the worst, Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience, as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.

So, although I have quite a lot of confidence in Christ and could command you to do what is proper,

I wanted to keep him so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the sake of the gospel.

I, Paul, have written this letter with my own hand: I will repay it. I could also mention that you owe me your very self.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil),

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,

And it could be said that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid a tithe through Abraham.

This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper.

and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.

By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king's anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.

For they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands.

and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days.

But the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of -- away from the presence of the serpent -- for a time, times, and half a time.

The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

and the temple was filled with smoke from God's glory and from his power. Thus no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues from the seven angels were completed.

Every island fled away and no mountains could be found.

The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)