So whenever you do your deeds of charity, never blow your own horn in public, as the hypocrites are in the habit of doing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to be praised by the people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, for its pillars had been laid on a rocky foundation.

And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed, and the wreck of it was complete."

At that time Jesus walked one sabbath through the wheat fields, and His disciples became hungry, and began to pull the heads of wheat and eat them.

but still, that we may not influence them to do anything wrong, go down to the sea and throw over a hook. Pull in the first fish that bites, open its mouth and you will find in it a dollar. Take it and pay the tax for both of us."

So give us your opinion on the question: Is it right to pay Caesar the poll-tax, or not?"

Show me a poll-tax coin."

saying, "Play the prophet, you Christ, and tell us who struck you."

And they came up and said to Him, "We know that you always tell the truth, and pay no personal consideration to anyone, but teach the way of God honestly. Is it right to pay poll-tax to Caesar, or not?

And some of them started to spit on Him and to blindfold Him and to hit Him with their fists, and say to Him, "Now play the prophet!" Even the attendants took charge of Him with slaps at Him.

Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow, and then continues to look back, is fitted for service in the kingdom of God."

So it is with the man who continues to pile up possessions for himself, and is not rich in God."

Then He said to them, "Which of you, if his son or ox falls into a well, will not at once pull him out on the Sabbath?"

He answered, 'Nine hundred gallons of oil.' Then he said to him, 'Take your bill and sit right down and write four hundred and fifty.'

Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He answered, 'Twelve hundred bushels of wheat:' He said to him, 'Take your bill and write nine hundred and sixty.'

Then the Lord said to them, "If you had faith that grows like a mustard seed, you might have been saying to this mulberry tree, 'Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea,' and it would have obeyed you!

and after blindfolding Him they asked Him, "Play the prophet and tell us who it is that struck you!"

And just as Moses in the desert lifted the serpent on the pole, the Son of Man must be lifted up,

Now in Jerusalem near the sheep-gate there is a pool called in Hebrew Bethzatha, which has five porticoes,

The sick man answered, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is moved, but while I am trying to get down, somebody else steps down ahead of me."

He continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this present world; I do not belong to this present world.

and said, "Go and wash them in the pool of Siloam" (which means One who has been sent). So he went and washed them and went home seeing.

A bowl full of sour wine was sitting there. So they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a stick and put it to His lips.

I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs upon the earth below, yes, blood and fire and smoky mist.

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, because he was full of the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye

Then Paul and his party set sail from Paphos and crossed over to Perga in Pamphylia. Here John quit them and returned to Jerusalem,

Then Paul got up and motioned with his hand and said: "Fellow Israelites, and you who reverence God, listen!

and after the congregation had broken up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism allied themselves with Paul and Barnabas, and they kept talking to them and urging them to continue to rely on the unmerited favor of God.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were completely overcome by their jealousy and began to contradict the statements made by Paul, and even to abuse him.

Then Paul and Barnabas courageously spoke out, "God's message had to be spoken to you Jews first, but since you continue to thrust it from you and since you show yourselves unworthy to receive eternal life, now and here we turn to the heathen.

But the Jews stirred up the devout women of high rank and the men of first rank in town, and so started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

He continued listening to Paul as he spoke, and as Paul by looking straight at him observed that he had faith that he would be cured,

So the crowds, because they saw what Paul had done, shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods in human form have come down to us!"

They called Barnabas Zeus and Paul, because he was the principal speaker, Hermes.

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

But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the crowds by persuasion, and they stoned Paul, and dragged him outside the town, supposing he was dead.

So, as a dire disturbance and a serious discussion had been created between Paul and Barnabas and them, they decided that Paul and Barnabas and some others from their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.

By this he quieted the whole congregation, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell of the signs and wonders which God had done through them among the heathen.

Then the apostles and elders in cooperation with the whole church passed a resolution to select and send some men of their number with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers.

we have passed a unanimous resolution to select and send messengers to you with our beloved brothers Barnabas and Paul,

But Paul and Barnabas stayed on at Antioch, and with many others continued to teach the Lord's message and to tell the good news.

Some days after this Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we preached the Lord's message, to see how they are."

Paul, however, did not consider such a man fit to take along with them, the man who deserted them in Pamphylia and did not go on with them to the work.

But Paul selected Silas and set out, after the brothers had committed him to the favor of the Lord.

Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek.

There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul.

This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation."

She kept this up for a number of days. Because Paul was so much annoyed by her, he turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her." And that very moment it came out.

But as the owners saw that the hope of their profit-making was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square, before the authorities,

But about midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

But Paul at once shouted out to him, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!"

Then the jailer called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.

The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace."

But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!"

So Paul, as he usually did, went to the synagogue, and for three sabbaths discussed with them the Scriptures,

So some of them were convinced, and they joined Paul and Silas; also quite a number of devout Greeks and not a few women of the first rank.

That night at once the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, and on arriving there they went to the Jewish synagogue.

The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true.

But when the Jews at Thessalonica learned that God's message had been proclaimed at Berea by Paul, they came there too to excite the masses and stir up a riot.

Then the brothers at once sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed on there.

The men who acted as Paul's bodyguard took him all the way to Athens, and then went back with orders for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible.

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred to its depths to see the city completely steeped in idolatry.

So Paul stood up in the center of the auditorium and said: "Men of Athens, at every turn I make I see that you are very religious.

So Paul left the auditorium.

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued an edict for all Jews to leave Rome. So Paul paid them a visit,

Every sabbath it was Paul's habit to preach in the synagogue and to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was wholly absorbed in preaching the message and was enthusiastically assuring the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Stop being afraid, go on speaking, never give up;

While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews unanimously attacked Paul and one day brought him before the court,

As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were some misdemeanor or underhanded rascality, O Jews, I would in reason listen to you;

Now Paul stayed a considerable time longer in Corinth, and then bade the brothers goodbye and set sail for Syria, accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow.

Then they came to Ephesus, and Paul left them there. He went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.

It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, by passing through the inland districts, came to Ephesus. He found a few disciples there

Then Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism that was an expression of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was to come after him; that is, in Jesus."

and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in foreign tongues and to prophesy.

God also continued to do such wonder-works through Paul

But some wandering Jews who claimed to be driving out the evil spirits tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits in them, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!"

But on one occasion the evil spirit answered, "Jesus I know and Paul I know about, but who are you?"

After these events had been brought to a close, Paul under the guidance of the Spirit decided to pass through Macedonia and Greece on his way to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have gone there I must see Rome too."

and you see and hear that, not only in Ephesus but all over the province of Asia, this man Paul has led away a vast number of people by persuading them, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

So the whole city was thrown into confusion and with one impulse the people rushed into the theatre and dragged with them two Macedonians, Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions.

Paul wanted to go into the assembly and address the people, but the disciples would not let him.

When the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he bade them goodbye and started off for Macedonia.

On the first day of the week when we had met to break bread, Paul addressed them, since he was leaving the next day, and prolonged his speech till midnight.

and a young man named Eutychus, who was sitting by the window, was gradually overcome by heavy drowsiness, as Paul kept speaking longer and longer, and at last he went fast asleep and fell from the third story to the ground and was picked up dead.

But Paul went down and fell on him and embraced him, and said, "Stop being alarmed, his life is still in him."

We had already gone on board the ship and set sail for Assos, where we were to take Paul on board; for it had been so arranged by him, as he intended to travel there on foot.

For Paul's plan was to sail past Ephesus, so as not to lose any time in the province of Asia; for he was eager, if possible, to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost.

There was loud weeping by them all, as they threw their arms around Paul's neck and kept on kissing him with affection,

So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Because of impressions made by the Spirit they kept on warning Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

He came to see us and took Paul's belt and with it bound his own hands and feet, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says, 'The Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt like this, and then will turn him over to the heathen.'"

Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? Why, I am ready not only to be bound at Jerusalem but to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus."

On the next day we went with Paul to see James, and all the elders of the church came too.

Paul first greeted them and then gave them a detailed account of what God had done among the heathen through his service.

Then Paul took the men along with him and on the next day went into the temple with them, purified, and announced the time when the purification would be completed, when the sacrifice for each one of them could be offered.

For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus in the city with him, and so they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

The whole city was stirred with excitement, and all at once the people rushed together, and seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and its gates at once were shut.

So he at once got together some soldiers and captains and hurried down against them, but as soon as they saw the colonel and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Then the colonel came up and seized Paul and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he then asked who he was and what he had done.