Thematic Bible: Trial of


Thematic Bible






When the word of the kingdom comes to anyone, and the sense of it is not clear to him, then the Evil One comes, and quickly takes away that which was put in his heart. He is the seed dropped by the wayside. And that which went on the stones, this is he who, hearing the word, straight away takes it with joy; But having no root in himself, he goes on for a time; and when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, he quickly becomes full of doubts. read more.
And that which was dropped among the thorns, this is he who has the word; and the cares of this life, and the deceits of wealth, put a stop to the growth of the word and it gives no fruit.

And I am conscious, my God, that you are the searcher of hearts, taking pleasure in righteousness. As for me, with an upright heart I have freely given all these things; and I have seen with joy your people who are here to make their offerings freely to you.


You gave a cry in your trouble, and I made you free; I gave you an answer in the secret place of the thunder; I put you to the test at the waters of Meribah. (Selah.)

Because in those days there will be great sorrow, such as there has not been from the start of the world till now, or ever will be. And if those days had not been made short there would have been no salvation for any, but because of the saints those days will be made short. Then if any man says to you, See, here is the Christ, or, Here; do not put faith in him; read more.
For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked. See, I have made it clear to you before it comes about.

And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up. And those which went among thorns are those who have given hearing, and go on their way, but they are overcome by cares and wealth and the pleasures of life, and they give no fruit.

It is right for us to give praise to God at all times for you, brothers, because of the great increase of your faith, and the wealth of your love for one another; So that we ourselves take pride in you in the churches of God for your untroubled mind and your faith in all the troubles and sorrows which you are going through; Which is a clear sign of the decision which God in his righteousness has made; to give you a part in his kingdom, for which you have undergone this pain;

For when God made his oath to Abraham, because there was no greater oath, he made it by himself, Saying, Be certain that I will give you my blessing, and make your numbers very great. And so, when he had been waiting calmly for a long time, God's word to him was put into effect.


And on the day after, when they came down from the mountain, a great band of people came to him. And a man from among them, crying out, said, Master, I make a request to you, give a thought to my son, for he is my only child: And see, a spirit takes him, and suddenly he gives a cry, twisted in pain and streaming at the lips, and when it goes away from him at last, he is marked as from blows. read more.
And I made a request to your disciples to send it out of him, but they were not able to do it. And Jesus said, O generation without faith and false in heart, how long will I have to be with you and put up with you? let your son come here. And while he was coming, he was pushed violently down and twisted by the evil spirit. But Jesus gave sharp orders to the unclean spirit, and made the boy well, and gave him back to his father.

And when they came to the people, a man went down on his knees to him, saying, Lord have mercy on my son: for he is off his head, and is in great pain; and frequently he goes falling into the fire, and frequently into the water. And I took him to your disciples, and they were not able to make him well. read more.
And Jesus, answering, said, O false and foolish generation, how long will I be with you? how long will I put up with you? let him come here to me. And Jesus gave orders to the unclean spirit, and it went out of him: and the boy was made well from that hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said, Why were we not able to send it out? And he says to them, Because of your little faith: for truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Be moved from this place to that; and it will be moved; and nothing will be impossible to you. []

And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great mass of people about them, and scribes questioning them. And straight away all the people, when they saw him, were full of wonder, and running to him, gave him worship. And he said, What are you questioning them about? read more.
And one of the number said to him in answer, Master, I came to you with my son, who has in him a spirit which takes away his power of talking; And wherever it takes him, it puts him down violently, streaming at the lips and twisted with pain; and his strength goes from him; and I made a request to your disciples to send it out, and they were not able. And he said to them in answer, O generation without faith, how long will I have to be with you? how long will I put up with you? let him come to me. And they took him to him: and when he saw him, the spirit in him straight away became violent; and he went down on the earth, rolling about and streaming at the lips. And Jesus questioning the father said, How long has he been like this? And he said, From a child. And frequently it has sent him into the fire and into the water, for his destruction; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us, and give us help. And Jesus said to him, If you are able! All things are possible to him who has faith. Straight away the father of the child gave a cry, saying, I have faith; make my feeble faith stronger. And when Jesus saw that the people came running together, he gave orders to the unclean spirit, saying to him, You, spirit, who are the cause of his loss of voice and hearing, I say to you, come out of him, and never again go into him. And after crying out and shaking him violently, it came out: and the child became like one dead; so that most of them said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, lifting him up; and he got up. And when he had gone into the house, his disciples said to him privately, Why were we unable to send it out? And he said to them, Nothing will make this sort come out but prayer.


And when he had got into a boat, his disciples went after him. And there came up a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was sleeping. And they came to him, and, awaking him, said, Help, Lord; destruction is near. read more.
And he said to them, Why are you full of fear, O you of little faith? Then he got up and gave orders to the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men were full of wonder, saying, What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea do his orders?

And going away from the people, they took him with them, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind came up, and the waves came into the boat, so that the boat was now becoming full. And he himself was in the back of the boat, sleeping on the cushion: and they, awaking him, said, Master, is it nothing to you that we are in danger of destruction? read more.
And he came out of his sleep, and gave strong orders to the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be at rest. And the wind went down, and there was a great calm. And he said to them, Why are you full of fear? have you still no faith? And their fear was great, and they said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea do his orders?

Now it came about on one of those days that he got into a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the water: and they put out the boat. But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger. Then they came to him and, awaking him out of his sleep, said, Master, Master, destruction is near. And he, when he was awake, gave orders to the wind and the rolling waves, and the storm came to an end, and all was calm. read more.
And he said to them, Where is your faith? And fear and wonder overcame them, and they said to one another, Who then is this, who gives orders even to the winds and the water and they do what he says? And they came to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.


And Moses said to God, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and take the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Truly I will be with you; and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have taken the children of Israel out of Egypt, you will give worship to God on this mountain.

And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not a man of words; I have never been so, and am not now, even after what you have said to your servant: for talking is hard for me, and I am slow of tongue. And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? who takes away a man's voice or hearing, or makes him seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? So go now, and I will be with your mouth, teaching you what to say. read more.
And he said, O Lord, send, if you will, by the hand of anyone whom it seems good to you to send. And the Lord was angry with Moses, and said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? To my knowledge he is good at talking. And now he is coming out to you: and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. Let him give ear to your voice, and you will put my words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his, teaching you what you have to do. And he will do the talking for you to the people: he will be to you as a mouth and you will be to him as God. And take in your hand this rod with which you will do the signs.

Feeling that it was better to undergo pain with the people of God, than for a short time to have a taste of the pleasures of sin; Judging a part in the shame of Christ to be better than all the wealth of Egypt; for he was looking forward to his reward. By faith he went out of Egypt, not being turned from his purpose by fear of the wrath of the king; for he kept on his way, as seeing him who is unseen. read more.
By faith he kept the Passover, and put the sign of the blood on the houses, so that the angel of destruction might not put their oldest sons to death. By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it had been dry land, though the Egyptians were overcome by the water when they made an attempt to do the same.


What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets:

Then Gideon said to God, If you are going to give Israel salvation by my hand, as you have said, See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have said. And it was so: for he got up early on the morning after, and twisting the wool in his hands, he got a basin full of water from the dew on the wool. read more.
Then Gideon said to God, Do not be moved to wrath against me if I say only this: let me make one more test with the wool; let the wool now be dry, while the earth is covered with dew. And that night God did so; for the wool was dry, and there was dew on all the earth round it.


By faith Abraham made an offering of Isaac, when he was tested: and he with whom the agreement had been made gave up as an offering the only son of his body, Of whom it had been said, From Isaac will your seed take their name: Judging that God was able to give life even to the dead; and because of this he did get him back as if from death.

Now after these things, God put Abraham to the test, and said to him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said to him, Take your son, your dearly loved only son Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and give him as a burned offering on one of the mountains of which I will give you knowledge. And Abraham got up early in the morning, and made ready his ass, and took with him two of his young men and Isaac, his son, and after the wood for the burned offering had been cut, he went on his way to the place of which God had given him word. read more.
And on the third day, Abraham, lifting up his eyes, saw the place a long way off. Then he said to his young men, Keep here with the ass; and I and the boy will go on and give worship and come back again to you. And Abraham put the wood for the burned offering on his son's back, and he himself took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them went on together. Then Isaac said to Abraham, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, We have wood and fire here, but where is the lamb for the burned offering? And Abraham said, God himself will give the lamb for the burned offering: so they went on together. And they came to the place of which God had given him knowledge; and there Abraham made the altar and put the wood in place on it, and having made tight the bands round Isaac his son, he put him on the wood on the altar. And stretching out his hand, Abraham took the knife to put his son to death. But the voice of the angel of the Lord came from heaven, saying, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Let not your hand be stretched out against the boy to do anything to him; for now I am certain that the fear of God is in your heart, because you have not kept back your son, your only son, from me. And lifting up his eyes, Abraham saw a sheep fixed by its horns in the brushwood: and Abraham took the sheep and made a burned offering of it in place of his son. And Abraham gave that place the name Yahweh-yireh: as it is said to this day, In the mountain the Lord is seen. And the voice of the angel of the Lord came to Abraham a second time from heaven, Saying, I have taken an oath by my name, says the Lord, because you have done this and have not kept back from me your dearly loved only son, That I will certainly give you my blessing, and your seed will be increased like the stars of heaven and the sand by the seaside; your seed will take the land of those who are against them; And your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, because you have done what I gave you orders to do. Then Abraham went back to his young men and they went together to Beer-sheba, the place where Abraham was living.


At that time certain Chaldaeans came near and made a statement against the Jews. They made answer and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O King, have life for ever. You, O King, have given an order that every man, when the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, comes to his ears, is to go down on his face in worship before the image of gold: read more.
And anyone not falling down and worshipping is to be put into a burning and flaming fire. There are certain Jews whom you have put over the business of the land of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men have not given attention to you, O King: they are not servants of your gods or worshippers of the gold image which you have put up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his wrath and passion gave orders for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to be sent for. Then they made these men come in before the king. Nebuchadnezzar made answer and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you will not be servants of my god or give worship to the image of gold which I have put up? Now if you are ready, on hearing the sound of the horn, pipe, harp, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all sorts of instruments, to go down on your faces in worship before the image which I have made, it is well: but if you will not give worship, that same hour you will be put into a burning and flaming fire; and what god is there who will be able to take you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answering Nebuchadnezzar the king, said, There is no need for us to give you an answer to this question. If our God, whose servants we are, is able to keep us safe from the burning and flaming fire, and from your hands, O King, he will keep us safe. But if not, be certain, O King, that we will not be the servants of your gods, or give worship to the image of gold which you have put up. Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of wrath, and the form of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: and he gave orders that the fire was to be heated up seven times more than it was generally heated. And he gave orders to certain strong men in his army to put cords on Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and put them into the burning and flaming fire. Then these men had cords put round them as they were, in their coats, their trousers, their hats, and their clothing, and were dropped into the burning and flaming fire. And because the king's order was not to be put on one side, and the heat of the fire was so great, the men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were burned to death by the flame of the fire. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, with the cords about them, went down into the burning and flaming fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar, full of fear and wonder, got up quickly, and said to his wise men, Did we not put three men in cords into the fire? and they made answer and said to the king, True, O King. He made answer and said, Look! I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not damaged; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the burning and flaming fire: he made answer and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, you servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the fire. And the captains, the chiefs, and the rulers, and the king's wise men who had come together, saw these men, over whose bodies the fire had no power, and not a hair of their heads was burned, and their coats were not changed, and there was no smell of fire about them. Nebuchadnezzar made answer and said, Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel and kept his servants safe who had faith in him, and who put the king's word on one side and gave up their bodies to the fire, so that they might not be servants or worshippers of any other god but their God. And it is my decision that any people, nation, or language saying evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, will be cut to bits and their houses made waste: because there is no other god who is able to give salvation such as this. Then the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego even greater authority in the land of Babylon.

What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets: Who through faith overcame kingdoms, did righteousness, got their reward, kept the mouths of lions shut, Put out the power of fire, got safely away from the edge of the sword, were made strong when they had been feeble, became full of power in war, and put to flight the armies of the nations.


What more am I to say? For there would not be time to give the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets: Who through faith overcame kingdoms, did righteousness, got their reward, kept the mouths of lions shut,

Then the chief rulers and the captains were looking for some cause for putting Daniel in the wrong in connection with the kingdom, but they were unable to put forward any wrongdoing or error against him; because he was true, and no error or wrong was to be seen in him. Then these men said, We will only get a reason for attacking Daniel in connection with the law of his God. Then these chief rulers and the captains came to the king and said to him, O King Darius, have life for ever. read more.
All the chief rulers of the kingdom, the chiefs and the captains, the wise men and the rulers, have made a common decision to put in force a law having the king's authority, and to give a strong order, that whoever makes any request to any god or man but you, O King, for thirty days, is to be put into the lions' hole. Now, O King, put the order in force, signing the writing so that it may not be changed, like the law of the Medes and Persians which may not come to an end. For this reason King Darius put his name on the writing and the order. And Daniel, on hearing that the writing had been signed, went into his house; (now he had windows in his room on the roof opening in the direction of Jerusalem;) and three times a day he went down on his knees in prayer and praise before his God, as he had done before. Then these men were watching and saw Daniel making prayers and requesting grace before his God. Then they came near before the king and said, O King, have you not put your name to an order that any man who makes a request to any god or man but you, O King, for thirty days, is to be put into the lions' hole? The king made answer and said, The thing is fixed by the law of the Medes and Persians which may not come to an end. Then they made answer and said before the king, Daniel, one of the prisoners of Judah, has no respect for you, O King, or for the order signed by you, but three times a day he makes his prayer to God. When this thing came to the king's ears, it was very evil to him, and his heart was fixed on keeping Daniel safe, and till the going down of the sun he was doing everything in his power to get him free. Then these men said to the king, Be certain, O King, that by the law of the Medes and Persians no order or law which the king has put into force may be changed. Then the king gave the order, and they took Daniel and put him into the lions' hole. The king made answer and said to Daniel, Your God, whose servant you are at all times, will keep you safe. Then they got a stone and put it over the mouth of the hole, and it was stamped with the king's stamp and with the stamp of the lords, so that the decision about Daniel might not be changed. Then the king went to his great house, and took no food that night, and no ... were placed before him, and his sleep went from him. Then very early in the morning the king got up and went quickly to the lions' hole. And when he came near the hole where Daniel was, he gave a loud cry of grief; the king made answer and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whose servant you are at all times, able to keep you safe from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, O King, have life for ever. My God has sent his angel to keep the lions' mouths shut, and they have done me no damage: because I was seen to be without sin before him; and further, before you, O King, I have done no wrong. Then the king was very glad, and gave orders for them to take Daniel up out of the hole. So Daniel was taken up out of the hole and he was seen to be untouched, because he had faith in his God.


And Jesus went away from there into the country of Tyre and Sidon. And a woman of Canaan came out from those parts, crying and saying, Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is greatly troubled with an unclean spirit. But he gave her no answer. And his disciples came and said to him, Send her away, for she is crying after us. read more.
But he made answer and said, I was sent only to the wandering sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and gave him worship, saying, Help, Lord. And he made answer and said, It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. But she said, Yes, Lord: but even the dogs take the bits from under their masters' table. Then Jesus, answering, said to her, O woman, great is your faith: let your desire be done. And her daughter was made well from that hour.

And he went away from there to the country of Tyre and Sidon. And he went into a house, desiring that no man might have knowledge of it: and he was not able to keep it secret. But a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having had news of him, came straight away and went down at his feet. Now the woman was a Greek, a Syro-phoenician by birth: and she made a request to him that he would send the evil spirit out of her daughter. read more.
And he said to her, Let the children first have their food: for it is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. But she said to him in answer, Yes, Lord: even the dogs under the table take the bits dropped by the children. And he said to her, For this saying go your way; the evil spirit has gone out of your daughter. And she went away to her house, and saw the child on the bed, and the evil spirit gone out.


He says to them, But who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter made answer and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus made answer and said to him, A blessing on you, Simon Bar-jonah: because this knowledge has not come to you from flesh and blood, but from my Father in heaven. read more.
And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock will my church be based, and the doors of hell will not overcome it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever is fixed by you on earth will be fixed in heaven: and whatever you make free on earth will be made free in heaven. Then he gave orders to the disciples to give no man word that he was the Christ.

And he said, But who do you say that I am? And Peter, answering, said, The Christ of God. But he gave them special orders, not to say this to any man;


By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.

Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out from your country and from your family and from your father's house, into the land to which I will be your guide: And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing: To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a name of blessing to all the families of the earth. read more.
So Abram went as the Lord had said to him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went away from Haran.


By faith the walls of Jericho came down, after they had been circled for seven days.


Again, a second time, he said to him, Simon, son of John, have you any love for me? Yes, Lord, he said, you are certain of my love for you. Then take care of my sheep, said Jesus. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, am I dear to you? Now Peter was troubled in his heart because he put the question a third time, Am I dear to you? And he said to him, Lord, you have knowledge of all things; you see that you are dear to me. Jesus said to him, Then give my sheep food.


And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. And when they saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they gave cries of fear. But straight away Jesus said to them, Take heart; it is I, have no fear. read more.
And Peter, answering, said to him, Lord, if it is you, give me the order to come to you on the water. And he said, Come. And Peter got out of the boat, and walking on the water, went to Jesus. But when he saw the wind he was in fear and, starting to go down, he gave a cry, saying, Help, Lord. And straight away Jesus put out his hand and took a grip of him, and said to him, O man of little faith, why were you in doubt? And when they had got into the boat, the wind went down. And those who were in the boat gave him worship, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.


Lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw a great number of people coming to where he was, and he said to Philip, Where may we get bread for all these people? This he said, testing him: for he had no doubt what he himself would do.




And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, Have you faith that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord.


Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain