Thematic Bible: Indictments


Thematic Bible



"We ourselves heard him say, "I will destroy this sanctuary made by human hands, and in three days I will build another one not made by human hands.'" Verse ConceptsAbolitionThe Perfect TempleDestruction Of The TempleRebuilding The Temple

The Jewish leaders answered Pilate, "We have a law, and according to that Law he must die because he made himself out to be the Son of God." Verse ConceptsDeath penaltyClaimsNecessitySonsDeath As PunishmentCalled Himself The ChristEffect Of The LawChild Of God

But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest told him, "I command you by the living God to tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God!" Jesus told him, "You have said so. Nevertheless I tell you, from now on you will see "the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power' and "coming on the clouds of heaven.'" Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Listen! You yourselves have just heard the blasphemy!

and stated, "This man said, "I can destroy the sanctuary of God and rebuild it in three days.'" Verse ConceptsAbolitionThe Perfect TempleDestruction Of The TempleRebuilding The Temple

But he kept silent and didn't answer at all. The high priest asked him again, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" Jesus said, "I AM, and "you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power' and "coming with the clouds of heaven.'" Then the high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we still need witnesses?" he asked. read more.
"You have heard his blasphemy! What is your verdict?" All of them condemned him as deserving death.

They said, "If you are the Messiah, tell us." But he told them, "If I tell you, you won't believe me, and if I ask you a question, you won't answer me. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God." read more.
Then they all asked, "Are you, then, the Son of God?" He answered them, "You said it I AM." "Why do we need any more testimony?" they asked. "We have heard it ourselves from his own mouth!"

They answered him, "If he weren't a criminal, we wouldn't have handed him over to you." Verse ConceptsIndignities Suffered By ChristFalse Accusations, Examples OfHanding Over Christ

From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, "If you release this fellow, you're not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!" Verse ConceptsCaesarClaimsPeople OpposedFriends FailingPeople Set Free By PeoplePeople Releasing Others

Meanwhile, Jesus was made to stand in front of the governor. The governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." Verse ConceptsClaimsJews, TheKingship, DivineStandingTreasonInterrogatingAssentingChrist Is King Of Israel

So Pilate went back into the governor's headquarters, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Verse ConceptsJews, TheRoyal HousesChrist Is King Of Israel


Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered him, "You say so." Verse ConceptsClaimsJews, TheKingship, DivineInterrogatingAssentingWho Is Jesus?Christ Is King Of IsraelJews


They began to accuse him, "We found this man corrupting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he is the Messiah, a king." Then Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He answered, "You say so."


Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Then the Jewish high priests told Pilate, "Don't write, "The King of the Jews,' but that this fellow said, "I am the King of the Jews.'" read more.
Pilate replied, "What I have written I have written."

and Jason has welcomed them as his guests. All of them oppose the emperor's decrees by saying that there is another king Jesus!" Verse ConceptsdefianceKingship, DivineTreasonFalse Accusations, Examples OfWelcoming BelieversDifferent Personacting

For we have found this man a perfect pest and an agitator among all Jews throughout the world. He is a ringleader in the sect of the Nazarenes Verse ConceptsHeresiesPersecution, Forms OfSectsFalse Accusations, Examples OfDissension

They said, "This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the Law." Verse ConceptsIntoleranceInciting To EvilHow Not To WorshipBreaking God's Law

When his accusers stood up, they didn't accuse him of any of the crimes I was expecting. Instead, they had several arguments with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but Paul kept asserting he was alive.

I have nothing reliable to write our Sovereign about him, so I have brought him to all of you, and especially to you, King Agrippa, so that I will have something to write after he is cross-examined. For it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."

Two wicked men came in, sat down in front of them, and testified against Naboth in public, "Naboth cursed God and the king!" So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Verse ConceptsCriminalsTwo WitnessesTwo WitnessesCursing GodKilling Named Individuals

Meanwhile, there was a man named Naboth from Jezreel who owned a vineyard that was located contiguous to King Ahab's palace in Samaria. Ahab addressed Naboth and asked him, "I would like to plant a vegetable garden near my house. Please exchange your vineyard with a better one from me, or if you'd rather have cash, I'll buy it for its full value." But Naboth replied to Ahab, "No way! The LORD prohibits the sale to you of the inheritance of my ancestors!" read more.
Ahab went back to his palace, sullen and in a foul mood, because Naboth the Jezreelite had turned down Ahab's offer by saying "I will not transfer my ancestors' inheritance to you!" He laid down on his bed, curled up with his face to the wall, and refused to eat. But his wife Jezebel went to him and asked him, "How is it that you're so sullen and refusing to eat?" "I asked Naboth the Jezreelite, "Sell me your vineyard for cash, or if you want, I'll give you a better one in its place.' But he refused. He told me, "I won't give you my vineyard!'" "Aren't you the reigning king of Israel," his wife Jezebel replied. "Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I'll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns." So she wrote some memos in Ahab's name, set his personal seal to them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. In the memos, she wrote the following directives: "Proclaim a public fast and seat Naboth in the front row. Seat two wicked men in front of him, and make them testify against him. Tell them to claim "You cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death." So the leading men of the city, along with the elders and nobles who lived there, did precisely what Jezebel had directed them to do. They followed the instructions that she had set forth in the memos: They proclaimed a public fast and seated Naboth in the front row. Two wicked men came in, sat down in front of them, and testified against Naboth in public, "Naboth cursed God and the king!" So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Afterwards, they sent a message to Jezebel that said, "Naboth has been stoned. He's dead." When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she told Ahab, "Get up and confiscate Naboth's vineyard that he refused to sell you for cash. Naboth the Jezreelite isn't alive anymore. He's dead!" So once he heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up, went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, and confiscated it.

"Certain influential Jewish men whom you appointed to manage the city of Babylon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have neither paid attention to you, your majesty, nor served your gods. And they won't worship the golden statue that you set up." Verse ConceptsConformityServanthood, And Worship Of GodAnger Of Man, UnrighteousAvoiding IdolatryHow Not To WorshipNot Worshipping Idols

Some time later, king Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue, making it 60 cubits high and six cubits wide. He set it up in the Dura Valley within the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar summoned the regional authorities, governors, deputy governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the other administrators of the provinces, ordering them to come to the dedication of the statue that he had erected. So the regional authorities, governors, deputy governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the other administrators of the provinces assembled to dedicate the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. They took their places in front of the statue that he had erected. read more.
Then a herald proclaimed aloud: "People of all nations, and languages are commanded: Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various instruments, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that was set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. Anyone who does not fall down and worship is immediately to be thrown into the blazing fire furnace." Therefore, when all of the people "heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various other instruments," all the "people, nations, and languages" began to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Just then, certain influential Chaldeans took this opportunity to come forward and denounce the Jews. They told King Nebuchadnezzar, "Your majesty, live forever. You, your majesty, issued this decree: "Every man who hears the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various other instruments is to fall down and worship the golden statue. Whoever does not fall down and worship is to be thrown into a blazing fire furnace.' "Certain influential Jewish men whom you appointed to manage the city of Babylon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have neither paid attention to you, your majesty, nor served your gods. And they won't worship the golden statue that you set up." Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and furiously ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. Nebuchadnezzar asked them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't worship my gods and that you don't worship the golden statue that has been set up? Now, if you are ready at this very moment to obey "the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp,' and worship the image that I have made" If you do not so worship, you will immediately have cast yourselves into the middle of the blazing fire, and what god is there who can deliver you from my power?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, "It's not necessary for us to respond in this matter. Your majesty, if it be his will, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the blazing fire furnace, and he will deliver us from you. But if not, rest assured, your majesty, that we won't serve your gods, and we won't worship the golden statue that you have set up." Out of control with rage, Nebuchadnezzar's facial expression changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Then he issued orders to his elite guard to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with ropes and throw them into the blazing fire furnace. So the elite guard tied them up fully clothed, still wearing their robes, tunics, and turbans, and threw them into the blazing fire furnace, because the king's command was so drastic. Since the furnace was blazing hot, its flames killed those who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the blazing fire. Bound firmly with ropes, these three men Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell into the blazing fire furnace. Astonished, King Nebuchadnezzar stood up in terror, and asked his advisors, "Didn't we throw three men into the fire, bound firmly with ropes?" In reply they told the king, "Yes, your majesty." "Look!" he told them, "I see four men walking untied and unharmed in the middle of the fire, and the appearance of the fourth resembles a divine being." Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the opening of the blazing fire furnace. He shouted out, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire. The regional authorities, viceroys, governors, and royal advisors gazed at those men and saw that the fire had no effect on their bodies not a hair on their head was singed, their clothes were not burned, and they did not smell of fire. Nebuchadnezzar spoke up and announced:

Then they told the king, "Daniel, who is one of the Judean exiles, pays no attention to you, your majesty, or to the written decree, since he is still praying three times a day." Verse ConceptsdefianceLeaders, PoliticalSeveral Times A DayWhen To PrayPeople Of Judah

It pleased Darius to appoint 120 regional authorities over the kingdom throughout the realm, along with three chief administrators from them, one of which was Daniel. The regional authorities reported to these three administrators, so that the king would experience no losses. Daniel distinguished himself among all the administrators and regional authorities, because he was of an extraordinary spirit. Therefore the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom. read more.
Because of this, the administrators and regional authorities tried to bring allegations of dereliction of duty in government affairs against Daniel, but they were unable to find any charges of corruption. Daniel was trustworthy, and no evidence of negligence or corruption could be found against him. So these men said, "We'll never find any basis for complaint against Daniel unless we build it on the requirements of his God." Then these administrators and regional authorities went as a group to the king and said this, "Your majesty, live forever! All of the royal administrators, prefects, regional authorities, scribes, and governors have concluded that the king should establish and enforce an edict that anyone who prays to any god or man for the next 30 days (except to you, your majesty) is to be thrown into the lions' pit. Therefore, your majesty, establish the decree and sign the written document so it can't be changed, in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians that can't be repealed." So King Darius signed the edict contained in the written document. When Daniel learned that the written document had been signed, he went to an upstairs room in his house that had windows opened facing Jerusalem. Three times a day he would kneel down, pray, and give thanks to his God, just as he had previously done. The conspirators then went as a group and found Daniel praying and seeking help before his God. So they approached the king and asked, "Didn't you sign an edict that for the next 30 days if anyone prays to any god or man, except to you, your majesty, he would be thrown into the lions' pit?" The king responded, "The decree has been established, in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians that can't be repealed." Then they told the king, "Daniel, who is one of the Judean exiles, pays no attention to you, your majesty, or to the written decree, since he is still praying three times a day." When the king heard this, he was greatly upset, because he was determined to make every effort to save Daniel before the sun set. But the men who had gone as a group to the king told him, "Remember, your majesty, that according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, any decree or edict that the king establishes cannot be repealed." At this point, the king ordered Daniel brought in and thrown into the lions' pit. The king spoke to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve constantly, will deliver you himself." A stone was brought and placed over the opening to the pit, and the king affixed a seal to it with his personal signet ring and with the signet rings of his officials so that no one would interfere with Daniel's situation. Then the king retired to his palace to spend the night fasting. He enjoyed no entertainment, and he couldn't sleep. The king got up at dawn and went quickly to the lions' pit. As he approached where Daniel was in the pit, he cried out to him in a voice filled with anguish, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve constantly, been able to deliver you from the lions?" Daniel replied to the king, "May your majesty live forever! My God sent his angel and sealed the mouths of the lions. They have not harmed me, proving that I'm innocent before him. Also against you, your majesty, I've committed no offense." The king was ecstatic, so he gave orders for Daniel to be released from the pit. Daniel was taken up from the pit, and no injury was found to have been inflicted on him, because he had believed in his God. Then the king gave orders to bring those men who had tried to have Daniel devoured, and they threw them, their children, and their wives into the lions' pit. They had not reached the floor of the pit before the lions had overtaken them and crushed all their bones.

He was in the Gate of Benjamin, and chief officer Irijah, Shelemiah's son and the grandson of Hananiah, was there. He arrested Jeremiah the prophet, accusing him: "You are going over to the Chaldeans!" Jeremiah said, "It's a lie! I'm not going over to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him, and he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him. They put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made it into a prison.

Paul was about to speak when Gallio admonished the Jewish leaders, "If there were some misdemeanor or crime involved, it would be reasonable to put up with you Jews. But since it is a question about words, names, and your own Law, you will have to take care of that yourselves. I refuse to be a judge in these matters." So he drove them away from the judge's seat.

They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They are Jews and are advocating customs that we're not allowed to accept or practice as Romans."

So they secretly got some men to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God." Verse ConceptsFalse Accusations, Examples OfBlasphemy, Falsely AccusedIrreverenceLiesPersecution, Forms OfSecrecyHoly Spirit, Types OfActing In SecretBlasphemy

They had false witnesses stand up and say, "This man never stops saying things against this Holy Place and against the Law. Verse ConceptsCrimesHoliness, As Set Apart For GodJudaism

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