Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Court » Accused spoke in his own defense
Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our forefathers raised Jesus to life when you had hung him on a cross and killed him. God took him up to his right hand as our leader and savior, in order to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. read more.
We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."
We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."
So they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all about the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you instead of him, for we cannot help telling of what we have seen and heard."
And the high priests kept heaping accusations upon him. But Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer to make? See what charges they are making against you." But Jesus made no further answer at all, so that Pilate wondered.
Then Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, said to them, "Leaders of the people and members of the council, if it is for a benefit conferred upon a helpless man, and as to how he was cured, that we are called to account here today, you and the people of Israel must all know that it is through the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that he stands here before you well. read more.
He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved."
He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved."
The high priest said, "Is this statement true?" He answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The glorious God appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, and he said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives and come to the country that I will show you.' read more.
So he left the country of the Chaldeans and went to live in Haran, and from there after the death of his father, God caused him to move into this country where you now live. He gave him no property in it, not a single foot, but he promised to give it to him and his posterity after him permanently, though he had no children at that time. This was what God said: 'His descendants will be strangers, living in a foreign land, and they will be enslaved and misused for four hundred years, and I will sentence the nation that has enslaved them,' God said, 'and afterward they will leave that country and worship me on this spot.' And he made the agreement of circumcision with him, and so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him, and rescued him from all his troubles, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor of Egypt and of his whole household. Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and there was great suffering, and our forefathers could not find any food. But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt, and he sent our forefathers on their first visit there. On their second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh learned of Joseph's parentage. Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all, and Jacob came down to Egypt. There he and our forefathers died, and they were carried back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise God had made to Abraham, the people became more and more numerous in Egypt, until another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. He took advantage of our people and oppressed our forefathers, making them abandon their infant children, so that they should not live. It was at this time that Moses was born. He was a wonderfully beautiful child, and for three months he was taken care of in his father's house. When he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the Egyptian culture; he was strong in speech and action. When he was forty years old, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel. Seeing one of them being imposed upon, he interfered and defended the man who was being ill treated, striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him as the means of delivering them, but they did not. The next day, he came across two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. He said to them, 'You are brothers. Why should you injure each other?' But the aggressor thrust him off, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and judge? Do you mean to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?' At those words Moses fled, and went and lived for a time in Midian, and two sons were born to him there. When forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it he wondered at the sight, and when he went up to see what it was, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was terrified and did not dare to look at it. Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have seen all the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groans, and I have come down to save them. So come! I will make you my messenger to Egypt!' The Moses whom they had refused, saying to him, 'Who made you our ruler and judge?' God sent both to rule and to deliver them, with the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. It was he who brought them out of Egypt, and did wonders and signs there, and at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the desert. This was the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will make a prophet rise from among your brothers to teach you, just as he made me rise.' It was he who with the congregation in the desert went between the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and our forefathers, and received and communicated to you utterances that still live. Yet our forefathers would not listen to him, but thrust him off, and their hearts turned back to Egypt, for they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!' They even made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to their idol, and held a celebration over what their own hands had made. So God turned his back on them and left them to worship the starry host, just as the Book of the Prophets says, " 'Was it victims and sacrifices that you offered to me, O house of Israel, Those forty years in the desert? You offered me the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, The images you had made to worship! So I will deport you beyond Babylon.' In the desert our forefathers had the Tent of the Testimony built like the model Moses had seen, just as he who spoke to him told him to make it. This tent was handed down to our forefathers and they brought it here with them when under Joshua they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, and it existed until the time of David. He won the approval of God and begged to be allowed to provide a dwelling for the God of Jacob, and Solomon actually built a house for him. But the Most High does not live in buildings made by human hands. As the prophet says, " 'The sky is my throne, And the earth a footstool for my feet. What house can you build for me? says the Lord, Or what place is there where I can rest? Was it not my hand that made it all?' You stubborn people, with heathen hearts and ears, you are always opposing the holy Spirit, just as your forefathers did! Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They killed the men who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and killed??53 you who had the Law given to you by angels, and did not obey it!" When they heard that, they were enraged and ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at God's right hand. And he said, "Look! I can see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand!"
So he left the country of the Chaldeans and went to live in Haran, and from there after the death of his father, God caused him to move into this country where you now live. He gave him no property in it, not a single foot, but he promised to give it to him and his posterity after him permanently, though he had no children at that time. This was what God said: 'His descendants will be strangers, living in a foreign land, and they will be enslaved and misused for four hundred years, and I will sentence the nation that has enslaved them,' God said, 'and afterward they will leave that country and worship me on this spot.' And he made the agreement of circumcision with him, and so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him, and rescued him from all his troubles, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor of Egypt and of his whole household. Then a famine spread all over Egypt and Canaan, and there was great suffering, and our forefathers could not find any food. But Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt, and he sent our forefathers on their first visit there. On their second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Pharaoh learned of Joseph's parentage. Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all, and Jacob came down to Egypt. There he and our forefathers died, and they were carried back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time drew near for the fulfilment of the promise God had made to Abraham, the people became more and more numerous in Egypt, until another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. He took advantage of our people and oppressed our forefathers, making them abandon their infant children, so that they should not live. It was at this time that Moses was born. He was a wonderfully beautiful child, and for three months he was taken care of in his father's house. When he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh adopted him and brought him up as her own son. So Moses was educated in all the Egyptian culture; he was strong in speech and action. When he was forty years old, it occurred to him to visit his brothers, the descendants of Israel. Seeing one of them being imposed upon, he interfered and defended the man who was being ill treated, striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him as the means of delivering them, but they did not. The next day, he came across two of them fighting and tried to pacify them. He said to them, 'You are brothers. Why should you injure each other?' But the aggressor thrust him off, saying, 'Who made you our ruler and judge? Do you mean to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?' At those words Moses fled, and went and lived for a time in Midian, and two sons were born to him there. When forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it he wondered at the sight, and when he went up to see what it was, the voice of the Lord said, 'I am the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses was terrified and did not dare to look at it. Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have seen all the oppression of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groans, and I have come down to save them. So come! I will make you my messenger to Egypt!' The Moses whom they had refused, saying to him, 'Who made you our ruler and judge?' God sent both to rule and to deliver them, with the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush. It was he who brought them out of Egypt, and did wonders and signs there, and at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the desert. This was the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, 'God will make a prophet rise from among your brothers to teach you, just as he made me rise.' It was he who with the congregation in the desert went between the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and our forefathers, and received and communicated to you utterances that still live. Yet our forefathers would not listen to him, but thrust him off, and their hearts turned back to Egypt, for they said to Aaron, 'Make us gods to march in front of us, for as for this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!' They even made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to their idol, and held a celebration over what their own hands had made. So God turned his back on them and left them to worship the starry host, just as the Book of the Prophets says, " 'Was it victims and sacrifices that you offered to me, O house of Israel, Those forty years in the desert? You offered me the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rompha, The images you had made to worship! So I will deport you beyond Babylon.' In the desert our forefathers had the Tent of the Testimony built like the model Moses had seen, just as he who spoke to him told him to make it. This tent was handed down to our forefathers and they brought it here with them when under Joshua they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them, and it existed until the time of David. He won the approval of God and begged to be allowed to provide a dwelling for the God of Jacob, and Solomon actually built a house for him. But the Most High does not live in buildings made by human hands. As the prophet says, " 'The sky is my throne, And the earth a footstool for my feet. What house can you build for me? says the Lord, Or what place is there where I can rest? Was it not my hand that made it all?' You stubborn people, with heathen hearts and ears, you are always opposing the holy Spirit, just as your forefathers did! Which of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They killed the men who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and killed??53 you who had the Law given to you by angels, and did not obey it!" When they heard that, they were enraged and ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at God's right hand. And he said, "Look! I can see heaven open, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand!"
Paul looked steadily at the council and said, "Brothers, I have done my duty to God with a perfectly clear conscience up to this very day." At this the high priest Ananias ordered the people who were standing nearest to him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Do you sit there to try me by the Law, and order them to strike me in violation of the Law?" read more.
But the people who stood near him said, "Do you mean to insult God's high priest?" "I did not know, brothers," said Paul, "that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You shall not say anything against any ruler of your people.' " Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!" When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided.
But the people who stood near him said, "Do you mean to insult God's high priest?" "I did not know, brothers," said Paul, "that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You shall not say anything against any ruler of your people.' " Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!" When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided.
Diplomacy » Instances of » Paul, in arraying the pharisees and sadducees against each other at his trial
Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!" When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided. For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three. read more.
So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!" As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.
So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!" As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.
Sadducees » Reject the doctrine of the resurrection
Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question. "Master," they said, "Moses made us a law that if a man's brother died, leaving a wife but no child, the man should marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother. There were once seven brothers. And the eldest married a wife and died, leaving no child. read more.
And the second married her, and died without leaving any child, and so did the third. And none of the seven left any child. Finally, the woman died too. At the resurrection, which one's wife will she be? For all seven of them married her." Jesus said to them, "Does not this show that you are wrong, and do not understand either the Scriptures or the power of God? For when people rise from the dead, there is no marrying or being married, but they live as angels do in heaven. But as to the dead being raised, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of dead men but of living! You are entirely wrong."
And the second married her, and died without leaving any child, and so did the third. And none of the seven left any child. Finally, the woman died too. At the resurrection, which one's wife will she be? For all seven of them married her." Jesus said to them, "Does not this show that you are wrong, and do not understand either the Scriptures or the power of God? For when people rise from the dead, there is no marrying or being married, but they live as angels do in heaven. But as to the dead being raised, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of dead men but of living! You are entirely wrong."
Then some of the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came up and asked him, "Master, Moses made us a law that if a man's brother die leaving a wife but no children, the man should marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. And the eldest married a wife and died childless. read more.
And the second married her, and the third, and all the seven married her and died without leaving any child. After ward the woman died too. Now at the resurrection, which one's wife will the woman be? For all seven of them married her." Jesus said to them, "The people of this world marry and are married, but those who are thought worthy to attain that other world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are married. For they cannot die again; they are like the angels, and through sharing in the resurrection, they are sons of God. But that the dead are raised to life, even Moses indicated in the passage about the bush, when he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of dead men but of living, for all men are alive to him." Some of the scribes replied, "Master, that was a fine answer!" For they did not dare to ask him any more questions.
And the second married her, and the third, and all the seven married her and died without leaving any child. After ward the woman died too. Now at the resurrection, which one's wife will the woman be? For all seven of them married her." Jesus said to them, "The people of this world marry and are married, but those who are thought worthy to attain that other world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are married. For they cannot die again; they are like the angels, and through sharing in the resurrection, they are sons of God. But that the dead are raised to life, even Moses indicated in the passage about the bush, when he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of dead men but of living, for all men are alive to him." Some of the scribes replied, "Master, that was a fine answer!" For they did not dare to ask him any more questions.
On the same day some Sadducees came up to him, claiming that there is no resurrection, and they asked him this question: "Master, Moses said, 'If a man dies without children his brother shall marry his widow, and raise up a family for him.' Now there were seven brothers among us. The first of them married and died, and as he had no children, he left his wife to his brother; read more.
so did the second, and the third, and the rest of the seven. After them all the woman died. At the resurrection which one's wife will she be? For they all married her." Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. For after the resurrection there is no marrying or being married, but they live as angels do in heaven. But as to the resurrection of the dead, did you never read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of dead men but of living!" When the crowd heard this, they were astounded at his teaching. And when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,
so did the second, and the third, and the rest of the seven. After them all the woman died. At the resurrection which one's wife will she be? For they all married her." Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. For after the resurrection there is no marrying or being married, but they live as angels do in heaven. But as to the resurrection of the dead, did you never read what was said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of dead men but of living!" When the crowd heard this, they were astounded at his teaching. And when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,
When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided. For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three.
Sadducees » The resurrection a cause of dispute between them and the pharisees
Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!" When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided. For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three. read more.
So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!"
So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!"
Strife » Instances of » Pharisees and sadducees, concerning the general resurrection
When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided. For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three. So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!" read more.
As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.
As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.
Strife » Exemplified » Pharisees and sadducees
When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided.
Tact » Paul » In putting the two religious factions of the jews against each other when he was in trouble
Knowing that part of them were Sadducees and part of them Pharisees, Paul called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees! It is for my hope for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!" When he said that, a dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided. For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three. read more.
So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!" As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.
So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!" As the dispute was becoming violent, the colonel began to be afraid that they would tear Paul in pieces, and ordered the soldiers to go down and get him away from them and bring him into the barracks.