Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



"Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise like serpents, and guileless like doves. But be on your guard against men, for they will give you up to their courts, and have you flogged in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to bear your testimony before them and the heathen. read more.
But when they give you up, you must have no anxiety about how to speak or what to say, for you will be told at the very moment what you ought to say, for it is not you who will speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that will speak through you. One brother will give up another to death, and a father his child, and children will turn against their parents, and have them put to death. You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved.

And Jesus left the Temple and was going away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the Temple buildings. But he answered, "Do you see all this? I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another but shall be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age." read more.
Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am the Christ,' and many will be misled by them. You will hear of wars and rumors of war; do not let yourselves be alarmed. They have to come, but that is not the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the sufferings. Then they will hand you over to persecution and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all the heathen because you bear my name.

As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him, apart from the others, read more.
"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out." And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them. But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings. But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them. For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen. When they are taking you off to trial do not worry beforehand about what you ought to say, but say whatever is given you when the time comes, for it is not you that will speak, but the holy Spirit. Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved.

When some spoke about the Temple and its decoration with costly stone and votive offerings, he said, "As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!" Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?" read more.
And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them. But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky. But before all this, men will arrest you and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons and have you brought before kings and governors on my account. It will all lead to your testifying. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense, for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute. You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.

When Jesus had said all this he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Do honor to your son, that your son may do honor to you, just as you have done in giving him power over all mankind, so that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And eternal life means knowing you as the only true God, and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ. read more.
I have done honor to you here on earth, by completing the work which you gave me to do. Now, Father, do such honor to me in your presence as I had done me there before the world existed. "I have revealed your real self to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your message. Now at last they know that all that you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the truths that you gave me, and they have accepted them and been convinced that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me. I have a request to make for them. I make no request for the world, but only for those whom you have given me, for they are yours??10 all that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine??nd they have done me honor. Now I am to be no longer in this world, but they are to remain in the world, while I return to you. Holy Father, keep them by your power which you gave me, so that they may be one just as we are. As long as I was with them I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost (except the one who was destined to be lost), so that what the Scripture says might come true. But now I am coming to you, and I say this here in this world in order that they may have the happiness that I feel fully realized in their own hearts. I have given them your message, and the world has come to hate them, for they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

For the message you have heard from the beginning is this: We must love one another. We must not be like Cain who was a child of the evil one, and butchered his brother. And why did he butcher him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's upright. You must not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you!

"Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise like serpents, and guileless like doves. But be on your guard against men, for they will give you up to their courts, and have you flogged in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to bear your testimony before them and the heathen. read more.
But when they give you up, you must have no anxiety about how to speak or what to say, for you will be told at the very moment what you ought to say, for it is not you who will speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that will speak through you. One brother will give up another to death, and a father his child, and children will turn against their parents, and have them put to death. You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved.

And Jesus left the Temple and was going away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the Temple buildings. But he answered, "Do you see all this? I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another but shall be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age." read more.
Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am the Christ,' and many will be misled by them. You will hear of wars and rumors of war; do not let yourselves be alarmed. They have to come, but that is not the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the sufferings. Then they will hand you over to persecution and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all the heathen because you bear my name.

As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him, apart from the others, read more.
"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out." And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them. But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings. But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them. For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen. When they are taking you off to trial do not worry beforehand about what you ought to say, but say whatever is given you when the time comes, for it is not you that will speak, but the holy Spirit. Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved.

When some spoke about the Temple and its decoration with costly stone and votive offerings, he said, "As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!" Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?" read more.
And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them. But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky. But before all this, men will arrest you and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons and have you brought before kings and governors on my account. It will all lead to your testifying. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense, for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute. You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. read more.
You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must retain my love. If you keep my commands you will retain my love, just as I have observed the Father's commands and retain his love. I have told you all this so that you may have the happiness that I have had, and your happiness may be complete. The command that I give you is to love one another just as I have loved you. No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you to do. I do not call you slaves any longer, for a slave does not know what his master is doing, but now I call you friends, for I have made known to you everything that I have learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit??ruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers. "What I command you to do is to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love what was its own. But it is because you do not belong to the world, but I have selected you from the world, that the world hates you.

When Jesus had said all this he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Do honor to your son, that your son may do honor to you, just as you have done in giving him power over all mankind, so that he may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And eternal life means knowing you as the only true God, and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ. read more.
I have done honor to you here on earth, by completing the work which you gave me to do. Now, Father, do such honor to me in your presence as I had done me there before the world existed. "I have revealed your real self to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your message. Now at last they know that all that you have given me comes from you, for I have given them the truths that you gave me, and they have accepted them and been convinced that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me. I have a request to make for them. I make no request for the world, but only for those whom you have given me, for they are yours??10 all that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine??nd they have done me honor. Now I am to be no longer in this world, but they are to remain in the world, while I return to you. Holy Father, keep them by your power which you gave me, so that they may be one just as we are. As long as I was with them I kept them by your power which you gave me, and I protected them, and not one of them was lost (except the one who was destined to be lost), so that what the Scripture says might come true. But now I am coming to you, and I say this here in this world in order that they may have the happiness that I feel fully realized in their own hearts. I have given them your message, and the world has come to hate them, for they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.

For the message you have heard from the beginning is this: We must love one another. We must not be like Cain who was a child of the evil one, and butchered his brother. And why did he butcher him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's upright. You must not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you!