But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it.

And the whole church and all who heard this were appalled.

And Saul entirely approved of his being put to death. A great persecution of the church in Jerusalem broke out that day, and they were all scattered over Judea and Samaria except the apostles.

But Saul harassed the church. He went into one house after another, and dragging out men and women, put them in prison.

So the church all over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace and became established. It lived in reverence for the Lord and, stimulated by the holy Spirit, it grew steadily in numbers.

The news about them came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch.

and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.

About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church.

So Peter was kept in the jail, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him.

There were at Antioch in the church there a number of prophets and teachers??arnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the governor, and Saul.

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

When they arrived there, they called the church together, and reported how God had worked with them, and how he had opened the way to faith for the heathen.

The church saw them off upon their journey, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the heathen, and caused great rejoicing among all the brothers.

When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them.

Then the apostles and elders with the whole church resolved to select representatives and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They were Judas who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers.

When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and paid his respects to the church, and then went on to Antioch.

From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the holy Spirit has made you guardians, and be shepherds of the church of God, which he got at the cost of his own life.

I want to introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a helper in the church at Cenchreae.

who risked their necks to save my life. Not only I but also all the churches among the heathen thank them. Remember me also to the church that meets at their house.

My host, Gaius, the host of the whole church, wishes to be remembered to you. Erastus, the city-treasurer, and our brother Quartus wish to be remembered to you.

to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated by union with Christ Jesus, and called as God's people, like all those anywhere who call on the name of Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours;

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is a dear child of mine, in the service of the Lord, and one on whom you can depend, and he will help you to keep in mind my methods in the service of Christ Jesus, which I follow everywhere in every church.

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not your part to judge those who are inside the church,

If then you have ordinary matters to be settled, will you submit them for judgment to men who are nothing in the church?

You must not be hindrances to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God either,

Have you no houses to eat and drink in? Or do you mean to show your contempt for the church of God, and to humiliate those who have none? What can I say to you? Can I approve of you? Not in this matter certainly.

And God has placed people in the church, first as apostles, second as inspired preachers, third as teachers, then wonder-workers; then come ability to cure the sick, helpfulness, administration, ecstatic speaking.

I want you all to speak ecstatically, but I especially want you to be inspired to preach. The man who is inspired to preach is more useful than the one who speaks ecstatically??nless he can explain what he says so that it may do the church some good.

So since you are ambitious for spiritual endowments, you must try to excel in them in ways that will do good to the church.

Hence, if the whole church assembles and they all speak ecstatically, and ordinary people or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are crazy?

But if there is no one to explain it, have him keep quiet in church, and talk to himself and to God.

Women are to keep quiet in church, for they are not allowed to speak. They must take a subordinate place, just as the Law says.

If they want to find out about anything, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.

For I am the least important of the apostles, and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I once persecuted God's church.

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;

You have heard of my former conduct when I was attached to the Jewish religion??ow furiously I used to persecute the church of God and ravage it,

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.

He has put everything under his feet and made him the indisputable head of the church,

so that the many-sided wisdom of God may now through the church be made known to the rulers and authorities in heaven,

be glory through the church and through Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen.

for a husband is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the head of the church, which is his body, and is saved by him.

Just as the church is in subjection to Christ, so married women must be, in everything, to their husbands.

You who are husbands must love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave himself for her,

in order to bring the church to himself in all her beauty, without a flaw or a wrinkle or anything of the kind, but to be consecrated and faultless.

for no one ever hates his own person, but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ does with the church,

This is a great secret, but I understand it of Christ and the church.

as to my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church; and by the Law's standard of uprightness, no fault could be found with me.

And you at Philippi know as well as I do, that in the early days of the good news, after I left Macedonia, no church but yours went into partnership and opened an account with me.

He is the head of the church, it is his body; for he is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead??hat he might come to stand first in everything.

At present I am glad to be suffering in your interest, and I am making up in my own person what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for the church, which is his body.

Remember me to the brothers in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets at her house.

When this letter has been read to you, have it read to the church at Laodicea also, and see that you read the letter that is coming from there.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; God bless you and give you peace.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;

Women must listen quietly in church and be perfectly submissive.

managing his own house well, and keeping his children under control and perfectly respectful??5 for if a man does not know how to conduct his own household, how can he look after a church of God?

so that if I am delayed, you may know how we are to conduct ourselves in the household of God, for it is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

Any Christian woman who has widowed relatives should look after them, and relieve the church, so that it can look after widows who are really dependent.

and our sister Apphia, and our fellow-soldier Archippus, and the church that meets in your house;

If any one is sick, he should call in the elders of the church and have them pray over him, and pour oil on him in the name of the Lord,

Your sister-church in Babylon, chosen like you, and Mark my son wish to be remembered to you.

they have testified before the church to your love. Please see them off on their journey in a way appropriate to God's service.

I have written briefly to the church, but Diotrephes who likes to be their leader will not accept what I say.

So if I come, I will bring up the things that he is doing, and how he is maliciously accusing me. Not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers himself, and he is interfering with those who want to do so, and has them put out of the church.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: " 'He who holds the seven stars in his right hand and goes about among the seven gold lampstands speaks thus:

"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: " 'The first and the last, who died and came to life again, speaks thus:

"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: " 'He who wields the sharp, double-edged sword speaks thus:

"To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: " 'The Son of God, whose eyes blaze like fire, and whose feet are like bronze, speaks thus:

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: " 'He who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars speaks thus: I know what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but you are dead.

"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: " 'He who is holy and true, who carries the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, and shuts and no one shall open, speaks thus:

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: " 'The Amen, the true and faithful witness, the origin of God's creation, speaks thus:

The secret meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the guardian angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

He traveled through Syria and Cilicia and strengthened the churches.

So the churches became stronger and stronger in the faith, and their numbers increased from day to day.

Greet one another with a sacred kiss. All the churches of Christ wish to be remembered to you.

Only, everyone must continue in the station which the Lord has appointed for him, and in which he was when God's call came to him. This is the rule I make in all the churches.

But if anyone is disposed to be contentious about it, I for my part recognize no other practice in worship than this, and neither do the churches of God.

for God is not a God of disorder but of peace. This is the rule in all Christian churches.

About the collection for God's people, I want you to do as I told the churches of Galatia to do.

The churches of Asia wish to be remembered to you. Aquila and Prisca, with the congregation that meets at their house, send you their special Christian greetings.

I must tell you, brothers, how the favor of God has been shown in the churches of Macedonia,

I am sending with him his brother, who is famous in all the churches for his work in spreading the good news.

What is more, he has been appointed by the churches to travel with me in the interests of this generous undertaking, which I am superintending to honor the Lord and to show our readiness to help.

So as far as Titus is concerned, he is my partner and comrade in my work for you, while these brothers of ours represent the churches, and are a credit to Christ.

So you must give proof to them before all the churches of your love, and justify my pride in you.

I robbed other churches, letting them pay me so that I could work for you!

And besides everything else, the thing that burdens me every day is my anxiety about all the churches.

For what is there in which the other churches had the better of you, except in the fact that I would not permit myself to be a burden to you? You must forgive me that wrong!

Paul, an apostle not from men nor sent by any man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead??2 and all the brothers who are here with me, to the churches of Galatia;

I was still personally unknown to the Christian churches of Judea;

For you, brothers, followed the example of God's churches in Judea that are in union with Christ Jesus, for you in your turn had to bear the same ill-treatment from your neighbors as they did from the Jews,

As a result, we ourselves speak of you with pride in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in the face of all the persecutions and troubles you are having to endure.

John to the seven churches in Asia, blessing and peace to you from him who is and was and is coming, and from the seven spirits before his throne,

say, "Write what you see in a roll and send it to the seven churches??o Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will permit him who is victorious to eat the fruit of the tree of life that stands in the Paradise of God.'

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.'

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give him who is victorious some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble with a new name written on it which no one knows except the man who receives it.'

and I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches men's hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you for what you have done.

Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.'