"If you will just remain in this land, I'll build you up and not pull you down. I'll plant you and not uproot you, for I'm sorry about the disaster I've brought on you.

Say this to him: "This is what the LORD says: "Look! What I've built I'm about to tear down, and what I've planted I'm about to pull up and this will involve the entire land."

"Declare and proclaim among the nations. Lift up a banner and proclaim. Don't conceal anything. Say, "Babylon will be captured. Bel will be disgraced, and Marduk will be destroyed. Her idols will be disgraced, and her filthy images will be destroyed.'

Come to her from afar. Open up her barns. Pile her up like heaps of grain, and completely destroy her. Don't leave any survivors.

Lift up a battle standard in the land. Blow a trumpet among the nations. Consecrate the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz against her. Appoint a commander against her, bring up horses like bristling locusts.

I'll punish Bel in Babylon, and I'll make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth. The nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon will fall.

With their own hands, compassionate women boil their own children they become their food when my beloved people were destroyed.

I was amazed to see a wind storm blow in from the north, consisting of a massive cloud and fire that was flashing back and forth, surrounded by bright light. From deep within the cloud, something was shining that appeared to have a color like bronze that had been placed in fire until it glowed.

There was the likeness of the appearance of a human being seated on the likeness of the throne high above. I noticed that from what appeared to look like his waist upward there was something that looked like metal that glowed as if it were immersed in fire. Below this there was something resembling fire, with a radiant light surrounding him.

"Tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "Will it prosper? Won't he pull up its roots, and strip it bare so all its fresh foliage dries up? It won't be by great strength or by a great army that it will be uprooted.

I'm going to pour out my indignation all over you. I'll blow my fierce wrath against you and deliver you into the control of brutal men who are skilled at destruction.

who were clothed in blue including governors and commanders. All of them were desirable young men horsemen mounted on horses.

Take the best bones from the flock, pile wood under the pot for the bones, bring it to a boil, and then cook the bones in it."'"

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "How terrible it is for that blood-filled city I'm also going to add to my pile of kindling.

Pile up the wood! Make the fire burn hot. Boil the meat! Mix the seasonings. Burn those bones to a crisp!

therefore you'd better watch out! I'm going to tear open Moab's flanks, starting with its frontier cities the very glory of the nation! including Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim.

with sails made with embroidered Egyptian linen, festooned with blue banners, and with your sun shades made with purple cloth from Cypress.

trading garments made into the finest blue and embroidered mantels, and also multi-colored carpets, ropes, and other merchandise.

I made the nations tremble when they heard that Assyria was falling, descending into Sheol to join those who go down into the Pit. Then all of the trees of Eden in the world below were comforted, including the choicest and best of Lebanon, all of whom were well-watered.

So tell me now, which of the trees of Eden compares to you in glory or greatness? Nevertheless, you'll be brought down, along with those trees of Eden, to the earth below. You'll lie in the middle of the uncircumcised, with those who have been killed in war. Pharaoh and all his gang will be just like this!' declares the Lord GOD."

"Elam will be there. Its hordes will surround Elam's grave. All of them have been killed. They died violently, and they have descended uncircumcised into the world below after having spread terror throughout the land of the living. They will bear the shame of those who descend to the Pit.

As far as they are concerned, you sing romantic songs with a beautiful voice and play a musical instrument well. They'll listen to what you have to say, but they won't put it into practice!

Below these chambers, as one might enter from the outer court, was the east side entrance.

You are to present to the Levitical priests, Zadok's descendants, who will approach me to serve me, a young bull for a sin offering,' declares the Lord GOD.

You are also to present a bull for a sin offering, incinerating it in the appointed place at the Temple, outside the sanctuary.

"The second day following commencement of offerings, you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering to cleanse the altar the same way they cleansed it with the bull.

After you've finished the cleansing, you are to present a young bull without defect and a ram from the flock without defect.

"Every day for a week, you are to prepare a goat for a sin offering, a young bull, and a ram from the flock, each without defect.

"This is what the Lord GOD says, "On the first day of the first month, you are to present a young bull without defect in order to cleanse the sanctuary.

On that day, the Regent Prince is to provide, both for himself and for all the people who live in the land, a bull for a sin offering.

""The Regent Prince is also to present a grain offering consisting of an ephah with each bull and an ephah with each ram, along with a hin of olive oil mixed with an ephah of grain.

Furthermore, each New Moon there is to be a young bull presented without defect, six male lambs, and a ram without defect.

The Regent Prince is to present an ephah of grain along with the bull, an ephah of grain along with the ram, a grain offering consisting of as much as he is able to give and a hin of olive oil with each ephah of grain.

""The grain offering for the festivals and appointed festivals is to include an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much grain with the lambs as the Regent Prince brings with him, along with a hin of oil with each ephah.

The chief officer told Daniel, "I fear his majesty the king, who has determined what you eat and drink. If he notices that your faces are more pale than the other young men in your group, I will forfeit my head to the king."

She didn't recognize that it was I who provided her grain, wine, and oil, and it was I who gave her silver, while they crafted gold for Baal.

"I found Israel, as one finds grapes in the wilderness; Your ancestors seemed to me like the fruit gleaned from a fig tree's first harvest. When they went to Baal-peor, they devoted themselves to that filth, and they became loathsome, like what they loved.

"Ephraim, the well-trained heifer, loves to thresh grain, so I will spare her neck. I will turn Ephraim into a pack animal. Judah will pull the plow, and Jacob will turn up the fallow ground.

"When the tribe of Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; and it was exalted within Israel. But when they offended God by Baal, they died,

The people are terrified in their presence; every face grows pale.

Beat your plow blades into swords, and your pruning knives into spears! Let the frail say, "I am strong!"

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "An enemy will surround the land. He will pull down your defenses, and plunder your fortified citadels."

"Horses don't run over bare rock, do they? One doesn't plow rock with oxen, does he? But you have turned justice to gall, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.

Nineveh is devastated, deserted, and desolate. Her heart melts, her knees knock. Every stomach is upset, every face grows pale.

"Look, I am against you," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "so I will pull up your dress over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations, and your disgrace to the kingdoms.

"I will also stretch out my hand against Judah, and upon all inhabitants of Jerusalem. I'll wipe out every trace of Baal from this place, and the name of the pagan priests, along with my own priests.

"You turned away in pursuit of abundance, but look at how little you found! What you did manage to bring home, I blew away! And why?' declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "It's because of my house! It lies in ruins while each of you runs off to his own house!

When someone came to a pile of grain to get 20 measures, there were only ten. Or when someone approached the wine press to siphon out 50 measures, there were only 20.

So I said, "I have been watching and look! there is a menorah made completely of gold with a bowl on top of it. And there are seven lights on it, along with seven feeder channels to the lamps, which are also on top of it. Two olive trees are near it, one on the right side of the bowl and one on the left."

The city parks will be filled with boys and girls. They will play in the city's open parks.'

The LORD will appear over them his arrow will shoot like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go out with the southern windstorm.

So whenever you give to the poor, don't blow a trumpet before you like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they will be praised by people. I tell all of you with certainty, they have their full reward!

The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation was on the rock.

The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and battered that house, and it collapsed and its collapse was total."

But he asked them, "Is there a man among you who, if he had one sheep and it fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn't take hold of it and pull it out?

"He told them, "An enemy did this!' "The servants asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull them out?'

"He said, "No! If you pull out the weeds, you might pull out the wheat with them.

He replied, "The man who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.

He told them, "It's one of you Twelve, the one who is dipping his bread into the bowl with me.

"No one lights a lamp and hides it under a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a lamp stand so that those who come in will see the light.

Jesus told him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Then he asked them, "If your son or ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you would pull him out immediately, wouldn't you?"

It's suitable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. People throw it away. Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!"

"Then the servant manager told himself, "What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I'm not strong enough to plow, and I'm ashamed to beg.

The man replied, "A hundred jars of olive oil.' The manager told him, "Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write "50."'

Then he asked another debtor, "How much do you owe?' The man replied, "A hundred containers of wheat.' The manager told him, "Get your bill and write "80."'

Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem is a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It has five colonnades,

At certain times an angel of the Lord would go down into the pool and stir up the water, and whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.

The sick man answered him, "Sir, I don't have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I'm trying to get there, someone else steps down ahead of me."

He told them, "You are from below, I'm from above. You are of this world, but I'm not of this world.

and told him, "Go and wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated "Sent One"). So he went off, washed, and came back seeing.

I will display wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.

But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye

Then Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said:

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath.

When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who kept talking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.

But when the Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to object to the statements made by Paul and even to abuse him.

Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, "We had to speak God's word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles.

But the Jewish leaders stirred up devout women of high social standing and the officials in the city, started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their territory.

So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

Paul and Barnabas found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding territory.

He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed,

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have become like men and have come down to us!"

They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,

Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds by persuasion. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking he was dead.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.

The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.

After Paul and Barnabas had finished speaking, James responded, "Brothers, listen to me:

Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers.

So we have unanimously decided to choose men and send them to you with our dear Barnabas and Paul,

Both Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch to teach and proclaim the word of the Lord, as did many others.

A few days later, Paul told Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they're doing."

but Paul did not think it was right to take along the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and who had not gone with them into the work.

while Paul chose Silas and left after the brothers had entrusted him to the grace of the Lord.

Paul also went to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish wife whose husband was a Greek.