4 Bible Verses about Christian Ministers

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant enough, but the reapers are few. So pray to the owner of the harvest to send reapers to gather it."

And he said to them, "The harvest is abundant enough, but the reapers are few. So pray to the owner of the harvest to send reapers to gather it.

I beg you, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the love that the Spirit inspires, join me in most earnest prayer to God for me. Pray that I may escape from those in Judea who are disobedient, and that the help I am taking to Jerusalem may be well received by God's people, so that, if it is God's will, I may come with a glad heart to see you and enjoy a visit with you.

You must help me by your prayers, so that many will give thanks to God on my behalf for the blessing granted me in answer to many prayers.

Use every kind of prayer and entreaty, and at every opportunity pray in the Spirit. Be on the alert about it; devote yourselves constantly to prayer for all God's people and for me, that when I open my lips I may be given a message, so that I may boldly make known the secret of the good news, for the sake of which I am an envoy, and in prison. Pray that, when I tell it, I may have the courage to speak as I ought.

Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does Barnabas' cousin Mark. (About him you have had instructions; if he comes to see you, make him welcome.)

We beg you, brothers, to respect those who work with you and who lead you in the service of the Lord, and teach you. Hold them in the highest esteem and affection for what they do. Live at peace with one another.

Do not forget your former leaders, the men who brought you God's message. Remember how they ended their lives and imitate their faith.

The signs that mark a true apostle were most patiently shown when I was among you, in signs, wonders, and marvels.

for our preaching of the good news did not come to you as mere words but with power and the holy Spirit and full conviction??ou know the kind of life we lived among you for your good.

offering men the message of life. Then I will have reason to boast of you on the Day of Christ, because my exertion and labor have not been wasted.

Then Paul got up, and motioning with his hand, said, "Men of Israel, and you who reverence God, listen! The God of this people of Israel chose our forefathers, and made the people great during their stay in Egypt, and then with uplifted hand led them out of Egypt. Then after he had taken care of them for forty years in the desert, read more.
he destroyed seven nations in Canaan, and settled them upon their land for about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them judges, down to the time of the prophet Samuel. Then they demanded a king and for forty years God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. Then he removed him and raised David up to be their king, bearing this testimony to him: 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all that I desire.' It is from his descendants that God has brought to Israel as he promised to do, a savior in Jesus, in preparation for whose coming John had preached to all the people of Israel baptism in token of repentance. Toward the end of his career, John said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he! No! Someone is coming after me, the shoes on whose feet I am not fit to untie!' Brothers! Descendants of the house of Abraham, and those others among you who reverence God! It is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. For the people of Jerusalem and their leaders refused to recognize him, and condemned him, thus fulfilling the very utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, and though they could find no ground for putting him to death, they demanded of Pilate that he be executed. When they had carried out everything that had been said about him in the Scriptures, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up to Jerusalem with him from Galilee, and they are now witnesses for him to the people. So we now bring you the good news that God has fulfilled to us, their children, the promise that he made to our forefathers, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the second psalm, You are my Son! Today I have become your Father!' Now as evidence that he has raised him from the dead, never again to return to decay, he said this: 'I will fulfil to you my sacred promises to David.' For in another psalm he says, 'You will not let your Holy One undergo decay.' Now David, after serving God's purposes in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his forefathers and did undergo decay, but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it. You must understand therefore, my brothers, that through him the forgiveness of your sins is announced to you, and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you. Take care, therefore, that what is said in the prophets does not prove true of you: " 'Look, you scoffers! Then wonder and begone! For I am doing something in your times Which you will never believe even when it is related to you!' " As they were going out, the people begged to have all this said to them again on the following Sabbath, and after the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism went away with Paul and Barnabas, and they talked with them, and urged them to rely on the favor of God.

For no matter how many guides you may have in the Christian life, you will not have many fathers; for in this matter of union with Christ, I became your father, through preaching the good news to you.

And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is treated with honor everywhere except in his native place and at his home."

There were at Antioch in the church there a number of prophets and teachers??arnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the governor, and Saul.

Do not sparrows sell two for a cent? And yet not one of them can fall to the ground against your Father's will! But the very hairs on your heads are all counted. You must not be afraid; you are worth more than a great many sparrows!

Do not sparrows sell five for two cents? And yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. But the very hairs on your heads are all counted! You must not be afraid, you are worth more than a great many sparrows!

So Peter was kept in the jail, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him.

And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and give your slaves the power to utter your message fearlessly,

And they prayed, saying, "Lord, you who know all hearts, show us which one of these two you have chosen to take this place of service as an apostle which Judas left to go where he belonged."

Then one of the Twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the high priests, and said, "What will you give me if I hand him over to you?" And they counted him out thirty silver pieces. And from that time he watched for a good opportunity to hand him over to them.

(This man bought a piece of land with the money paid him for his treachery, and his body swelled up and burst open in the middle and all his vitals poured out.

Then Judas who had betrayed him, when he saw that he had been condemned, in his remorse brought back the thirty silver pieces to the high priests and elders, and said, "I did wrong when I handed an innocent man over to death!" They said, "What is that to us? You see to it yourself." And he threw down the silver and left the Temple and went off and hung himself.

And as they were eating, he said, "I tell you, one of you will betray me!" They were deeply hurt and began to say to him one after another, "Can it be I, Master?" He answered, "The man who just dipped his hand in the same dish with me is going to betray me. read more.
The Son of Man is to go away as the Scriptures say of him, but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!" Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Can it be I, Master?" He said to him, "You are right!"

Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came up, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the high priests and the elders of the people. Now the man who betrayed him gave them a signal, saying, "The one I kiss is the man. Seize him!" And he went straight up to Jesus and said, "Good evening, Master!" and kissed him affectionately. read more.
Jesus said to him, "My friend, what are you here for?" Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and secured him.

They have left the straight path and gone astray. They have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on dishonest gain, but he was rebuked for his offense; a dumb animal spoke with a human voice and checked the prophet's madness.

A superintendent must be a man above reproach, only once married, temperate, sensible, a man of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;

The assistants must be only once married, and manage their children and their households well.

Have we not a right to take a Christian wife about with us, like the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?

Jesus went into Peter's house, and there he found Peter's mother-in-law sick in bed with fever.

But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen."

And where no one will welcome you, or listen to you, leave that house or town and shake off its very dust from your feet. I tell you, the land of Sodom and Gomorrah will fare better on the Day of Judgment than that town. "Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise like serpents, and guileless like doves. read more.
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. 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. But when they persecute you in one town, make your escape to another, for I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives. A pupil is not better than his teacher, nor a slave better than his master. A pupil should be satisfied to come to be like his teacher, or a slave, to come to be like his master. If men have called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much worse names will they give to the members of his household! So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing covered up that is not going to be uncovered, nor secret that is not going to be known. What I tell you in the dark you must say in the light, and what you hear whispered in your ear, you must proclaim from the housetops. Have no fear of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. You had better be afraid of one who can destroy both soul and body in the pit. Do not sparrows sell two for a cent? And yet not one of them can fall to the ground against your Father's will! But the very hairs on your heads are all counted. You must not be afraid; you are worth more than a great many sparrows! Therefore everyone who will acknowledge me before men I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but anyone who disowns me before men, I will disown before my Father in heaven. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be in his own household. No one who loves father or mother more than he loves me is worthy of me, and no one who loves son or daughter more than he loves me is worthy of me, and no one who will not take up his cross and follow me is worthy of me. Whoever gains his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it. "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who has sent me.

Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve.

And he told them many things in figures, and said to them, "A sower went out to sow, and as he was sowing, some of the seed fell by the path and the birds came and ate it up, and some fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil and it sprang up at once, because the soil was not deep, read more.
but when the sun came up it was scorched and withered up, because it had no root. And some of it fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it out. And some fell on good soil, and yielded some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty-fold.

"Listen: A sower went out to sow, and as he was sowing, some of the seed chanced to fall by the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some of it fell on rocky ground, and where there was not much soil, and it sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, read more.
but when the sun came up, it was scorched, and withered up, because it had no root. Some of the seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it out, and it yielded no grain. And some fell on good soil, and came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold." And he said, "Let him who has ears be sure to listen!" When he was by himself, those who stayed about him with the Twelve asked him about the figures he had used. And he said to them, "To you has been intrusted the secret of the reign of God, but to those outsiders, everything is offered in figures, so that " 'They may look and look and yet not see, And listen and listen and yet not understand, Lest possibly they should turn and be forgiven.' ", And Jesus said, "If you do not understand this figure, then how will you understand my other figures? What the sower sows is the message. The ones by the path are those into whose hearts the message falls, and as soon as they hear it Satan comes and carries off the message that has been sown in their hearts. It is so too with the ones sown on the rocky ground; they gladly accept the message as soon as they hear it, but it takes no real root in them and they last only a little while; then when trouble or persecution comes because of the message they give it up at once. It is different with those sown among the thorns. They are people who listen to the message, but the worries of the time and the pleasure of being rich and passions for other things creep in and choke the message out and it yields nothing. And the ones sown in good ground are the people who listen to the message and welcome it and yield thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.

"A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some of the seed fell by the path and was trodden on, and the wild birds ate it up. And some of it fell upon the rock, and when it sprang up it withered, because it had no moisture. And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. read more.
And some fell on good soil, and grew up and yielded a hundred fold!" As he said this he called out, "Let him who has ears to hear with, listen!"

The men who had seized Jesus took him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, at whose house the scribes and elders had gathered.

"You know that in two days the Passover Festival will come, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." Then the high priests and the elders of the people gathered in the house of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, "I charge you, on your oath, by the living God, tell us whether you are the Christ, the son of God." Jesus said to him, "It is true. But I tell you you will soon see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming upon the clouds of the sky!" Then the high priest tore his clothing and said, "He has uttered blasphemy! What do we want of witnesses now? Here you have heard his blasphemy!

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing about it. You do not realize that it is to your interest that one man should die for the people, instead of the whole nation being destroyed." Now he was not self-moved in saying this, but as high priest for that year he was inspired to say that Jesus was to die for the nation??52 and not only for the nation but also for the purpose of uniting the scattered children of God.

Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was for their interest that one man should die for the people.

When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit, and fearlessly uttered God's message.

When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, read more.
and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify. It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see. Yet I know, brothers, that you did not know what you were doing, any more than your leaders did; it was in this way that God fulfilled what he by all the prophets foretold that his Christ must suffer. So repent and turn to God, to have your sins wiped out, and happier times will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will send Jesus, your destined Christ. Yet he must remain in heaven till the time for the universal reformation of which God told in ancient times by the lips of his holy prophets. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, as he raised me up. You must listen to everything that he tells you. Anyone that will not listen to that prophet will be annihilated from among the people.' Why, all the prophets from Samuel down, who have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the agreement that God made with your forefathers when he said to Abraham, 'Through your posterity all the families of the earth will be blessed.' It was to you that God first sent his servant after he had raised him from the dead, to bless you by making every one of you turn from his wickedness."

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. He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. read more.
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." They were amazed to see how outspoken Peter and John were, and to find that they were uneducated men with no advantages. They recognized them as companions 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 they obeyed, and about daybreak went into the Temple and began to teach. The high priest and his party came over and called together the council and indeed the whole senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought in.

Follow my example, brothers, all of you, and notice those who follow the pattern we have set you.

Not that I had not a right to my support, but to give you in my own conduct an example to imitate.

Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set those who believe an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

and not as tyrannizing over those in your charge but proving models for the flock;

To the Jews I have become like a Jew, to win Jews over; to men under the Law I have become like a man under the Law, though I am not myself under the Law, so as to win over those who are under the Law. To those who have no law I have become like a man without any law??hough I am not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ??o as to win over those who are without any law. To the overscrupulous I have become overscrupulous, so as to win the overscrupulous; I have become everything to everybody, so as by all means to save some of them. read more.
And I do it all for the sake of the good news, so that I may share in its blessings along with the rest.

We are free to do anything, but not everything is good for us. We are free to do anything, but not everything builds up character.

But if someone says to you, "This meat has been offered in sacrifice," let it alone, on account of the man who told you and his conscientious scruples; his scruples, I say, not yours. For why should my liberty of action be limited by another's scruples? If I give thanks for what I eat, why should I be denounced for eating what I give thanks over? read more.
So whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do it all to the honor of God. You must not be hindrances to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God either, just as I for my part try to please everyone in all I do, not aiming at my own advantage, but at that of people generally, in order that they may be saved.

But granting that I did not burden you myself, I was clever about it, you say, and took you in by a trick.

Then some children were brought up to him so that he might lay his hands on them and pray, but his disciples reproved the people for it.

And people brought children to him to have him touch them, but the disciples reproved them for it.

People brought babies to him to have him touch them, but the disciples, when they saw it, reproved them for it.

But he would not answer her a word. And his disciples came up and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps screaming after us."

but Herod the governor, whom he condemned because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the wicked things Herod had done,

"Repent!" he said, "for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming!" It was he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when he said, "Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the Lord's way ready! Make his paths straight!' " John wore clothing made of hair cloth, and he had a leather belt around his waist, and he lived on dried locusts and wild honey. read more.
Then Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole Jordan valley went out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, in acknowledgment of their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming? Then produce fruit that will be consistent with your professed repentance! Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you God can produce descendants for Abraham right out of these stones! But the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you in water in token of your repentance, but he who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not fit to carry his shoes. He will baptize you in the holy Spirit and in fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean up his threshing-floor, and store his wheat in his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with inextinguishable fire."

John said to Herod, "It is not right for you to be living with your brother's wife." Herodias felt bitterly toward him and wanted him killed. But she could not bring it about, for Herod stood in awe of John, knowing that he was an upright and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him talk he was very much disturbed, and yet he liked to hear him. read more.
When a holiday came and Herod on his birthday gave a banquet to his courtiers and officers and to the leading men of Galilee, Herodias' own daughter came in and danced for them. And Herod and his guests were delighted, and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you like and I will give it to you." And he made oath to her, "I will give you whatever you ask me for, up to half my kingdom." When she had left the room she said to her mother, "What shall I ask him for?" But she said, "The head of John the baptizer." And she hurried back at once to the king and asked him for it, saying, "I want you right away to give me John the Baptist's head on a platter." The king was exceedingly sorry, but on account of his oath and his guests he did not like to break his word to her, and he immediately sent one of his guard with orders to get John's head. And he went off and beheaded him in the prison and brought back his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

So he would say to the crowds that came out there to be baptized by him, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to fly from the wrath that is coming? Then produce fruit that will be consistent with your professed repentance! And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you, God can produce descendants for Abraham right out of these stones! But the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire."

And he has given us some men as apostles, some as prophets, some as missionaries, some as pastors and teachers,

Again Jesus said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you devoted to me?" He said to him, "Yes, Master, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep!" Jesus said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because the third time Jesus asked him if he loved him, and he answered, "Master, you know everything, you can see that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep! I tell you, when you were young, you used to put on your own girdle and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will put a girdle on you and take you where you have no wish to go"

Meanwhile as the people gathered in thousands, until they actually trod on one another, he proceeded to say to his disciples first of all, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, hypocrisy.

Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the sanctuary, it does not matter, but if anyone swears by the gold of the sanctuary, it is binding.'

And Jesus said to them, "Look out, and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!" But they were discussing something with one another, and saying, "We have not brought any bread!" Jesus noticed it and said, "Why are you discussing with one another your being without bread? You have so little faith! read more.
Do you not understand yet? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets full you gathered up? Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets full you gathered up? Why do you not see that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!" Then they understood that he was warning them not against yeast but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

That was the kind of affection we had for you, which made us ready to share with you not only God's good news but our own lives too, because you were so dear to us.

And I have a right to feel in this way about you all, because both when I am in prison and when I am defending and vindicating our right to preach the good news, I have you in my heart as all sharing that privilege with me.

We always thank God for you all when we mention you in our prayers, for we can never forget before our God and Father your energetic faith, your loving service, and your unwavering expectation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers whom God so loves, that he has chosen you,

You know how, like a father with his children, we used to urge, encourage, and implore you

Now the faithfulness of Moses in all the house of God was that of a servant, in faithfully repeating what he was told to say;

has been to the God who appointed him, just as Moses was, in all the house of God.

Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved.

So pray to the owner of the harvest to send reapers to gather it."

Paul, a prisoner for Jesus Christ, and brother Timothy, to our dear fellow-worker Philemon,

Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve.

and really came to know it, in the form in which Epaphras, my dear fellow-slave, taught it to you. He is my faithful representative as a servant of Christ,

But I feel that I must send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-laborer, and fellow-soldier, whom you sent to look after my needs.

Share my hardships like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Anyone who is in the army keeps from being involved in business affairs, so as to please the officer who enlisted him.

but you will be given power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria and to the very ends of the earth."

We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things."

But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the express purpose of appointing you to serve me and to testify to what you have seen and to the visions you will have of me.

And he has given us some men as apostles, some as prophets, some as missionaries, some as pastors and teachers,

They all wept aloud, and throwing their arms about Paul's neck they kissed him affectionately, for they were especially saddened at his saying that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

But when our time was up, we left there and went on, and all of them with their wives and children escorted us out of the town. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed; then we bade one another goodbye, and we went on board the ship, and they went home.

like Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I turned over to Satan, to be taught not to blaspheme.

and their teaching spreads like a cancer; men like Hymenaeus and Philetus,

for which I became a worker by virtue of the gift of God's mercy which by the exercise of his power he has given me.

in making me a minister of Christ Jesus among the heathen, to act as a priest of God's good news, to see that the heathen are an acceptable sacrifice, consecrated by the holy Spirit.

The right way for a man to think of us is as Christ's servants, and managers authorized to distribute the secret truths of God.

On the contrary, as a servant of God I try in every way to commend myself to them, through my great endurance in troubles, difficulties, hardships,

Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the devoted adherents of Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the superintendents and assistants;

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James, to those who have been called, who are dear to God the Father and have been kept through union with Jesus Christ;

But you must always be composed; do not shrink from hardship; do your work as a missionary, and your whole duty as a minister.

And he has given us some men as apostles, some as prophets, some as missionaries, some as pastors and teachers,

But you, man of God, must fly from these things. Strive for uprightness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

When day came, he called his disciples to him, and chose twelve of them whom he named apostles:

Gloat over her, heaven! and all you people of God, apostles, and prophets, for God has avenged you upon her!"

Elders who do their duties well should be considered as deserving twice as much as they get, particularly those who work at preaching and teaching.

I appeal therefore to those who are elders among you; I am their brother-elder and a witness to what the Christ suffered, and I am to share in the glory that is to be revealed??2 be shepherds of the flock of God that is among you, not as though it were forced upon you but of your own free will, and not from base love of gain but freely,

Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me. It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile. But they did not insist that even my companion Titus, although he was a Greek, should be circumcised, read more.
to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again. But we did not submit to them for a moment, in order that the truth of the good news might remain yours. Those who were regarded as the leaders??hat they once were makes no difference to me; God takes no account of external differences??he leaders contributed nothing new to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.

And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the good news about him to the heathen, immediately, instead of consulting with any human being, or going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus. read more.
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him; but I did not see any other apostle, except James, the Lord's brother. (In writing you this, I call God to witness that I am telling the truth!) After that, I went to the districts of Syria and Cilicia. I was still personally unknown to the Christian churches of Judea; they only heard people say, "The man who once persecuted us is now preaching the good news of the faith he tried to destroy," and they praised God for me.

But how are they to call upon him if they have not believed in him? And how are they to believe him if they have never heard him? And how are they to hear unless someone preaches to them?

and I was appointed a herald and apostle of it?? am telling the truth, I am not lying??o teach the heathen faith and truth.

Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to arouse faith in those whom God has chosen, and the comprehension of religious truth,

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greeting to the twelve tribes that are scattered over the world.

He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!"

Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for men."

He immediately had his disciples get into the boat and cross before him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he was dismissing the crowd.

And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to some quiet place, and rest a little while." For people were coming and going in large numbers, and they had no time even for meals. So they set off by themselves in their boat for a secluded place.

The secret meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the guardian angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: " 'He who holds the seven stars in his right hand and goes about among the seven gold lampstands speaks thus:

The secret meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands is this: The seven stars are the guardian angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: " 'He who holds the seven stars in his right hand and goes about among the seven gold lampstands speaks thus:

Now Barnabas wanted to take John who was called Mark with them.

They differed so sharply about it that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus.

What is more, he has been appointed by the churches to travel with me in the interests of this generous undertaking, which I am superintending to honor the Lord and to show our readiness to help.

So as far as Titus is concerned, he is my partner and comrade in my work for you, while these brothers of ours represent the churches, and are a credit to Christ.

So they welcomed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people joined them that day.

On the day of the Harvest Festival, they were all meeting together, when suddenly there came from the sky a sound like a violent blast of wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they saw tongues like flames separating and settling one on the head of each of them, read more.
and they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to say in foreign languages whatever the Spirit prompted them to utter.

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, skilful in the use of the Scriptures. He had had some instruction about the Way of the Lord, and he talked with burning zeal and taught painstakingly about Jesus, though he knew of no baptism but John's. He spoke very confidently in the synagogue at first, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the Way of God to him more correctly. read more.
As he wanted to cross to Greece, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival there he was of great service to those who through God's favor had become believers, for he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, and showed from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

When the people heard Philip and saw the signs that he showed they were all interested in what he had to say,

But when they believed Philip's message of the good news of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women alike accepted baptism.

So there was great rejoicing in that city.

And right then in the night, he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all his household were baptized immediately. Then he took them up to his house and offered them food, and he and all his household were very happy over their new faith in God.

At present I am glad to be suffering in your interest, and I am making up in my own person what is lacking in Christ's sufferings for the church, which is his body. In it, by divine appointment, I became a worker, that I might preach among you the message of God in its fulness??26 that secret, hidden from the ages and generations, but now disclosed to those who are consecrated to him,

and their teaching spreads like a cancer; men like Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have missed the truth and say that the resurrection has taken place already, thus undermining people's faith.

But I feel that I must send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-laborer, and fellow-soldier, whom you sent to look after my needs. For he has been longing to see you all, and has been greatly distressed because you heard that he was sick. For he was sick, and nearly died, but God took pity on him, and not only on him, but on me, to save me from having one sorrow after another. read more.
So I am all the more eager to send him, so that you may have the pleasure of seeing him again, and I may feel more relieved. So give him a hearty Christian welcome, and value men like him very highly, for he came near dying for the Lord's work, and risked his life to make up for what was lacking in the service you have done me.

Epaphras, one of your own number, a slave of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you. He is always standing up for you in his prayers that you may stand fast, like men of mature convictions, whatever God's will for you may be. I can testify how anxious he is about you and the brothers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Thank God, he puts the same devotion to you that I feel into Titus' heart, for he has responded to my appeal, but he goes to you really of his own accord, he is so devoted to you.

And whether one uses gold or silver or costly stone in building on the foundation, or wood or hay or straw, the quality of everyone's work will appear, for the Day will show it. For the Day will break in fire, and the fire will test the quality of everyone's work. If what a man has built on the foundation stands the test, he will have his pay. read more.
If a man's work is burned up, he must stand the loss, though he himself will be saved, but as one who has passed through the fire.

From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they came, he said to them, "You know well enough how I lived among you all the time from the first day I set foot in Asia, and how I served the Lord most humbly and with tears, through all the trials that I encountered because of the plots of the Jews. read more.
I never shrank from telling you anything that was for your good, nor from teaching you in public or at your houses, but earnestly urged Greeks as well as Jews to turn to God in repentance and to believe in our Lord Jesus. I am here now on my way to Jerusalem, for the Spirit compels me to go there, though I do not know what will happen to me there, except that in every town I visit, the holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and persecution are awaiting me. But my life does not matter, if I can only finish my race and do the service intrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of declaring the good news of God's favor. Now I know perfectly well that none of you among whom I went about preaching the Kingdom of God will ever see my face again. Therefore I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I have not shrunk from letting you know God's purpose without reserve. Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the holy Spirit has made you guardians, and be shepherds of the church of God, which he got at the cost of his own life. I know that after I am gone savage wolves will get in among you and will not spare the flock, and from your own number men will appear and teach perversions of the truth in order to draw the disciples away after them. So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears. Now I commit you to the Lord, and to the message of his favor, which will build you up and give you a place among those whom God has consecrated. I have never coveted anyone's gold or silver or clothes. You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions. I showed you in every way that by hard work like that we must help those who are weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, 'It makes one happier to give than to be given to.' " With these words, he knelt down with them all and prayed. They all wept aloud, and throwing their arms about Paul's neck they kissed him affectionately, for they were especially saddened at his saying that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

In that same way these dreamers defile the body, make light of authority, and deride majesty. The archangel Michael himself, when he had the dispute with the devil about Moses' body, did not venture to condemn him for blasphemy; he only said, "May the Lord rebuke you!" But these people deride anything they do not understand, and the things they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, they use for their own destruction.

This aroused the high priest and all his supporters, the party of the Sadducees, and filled them with jealousy, and they had the apostles arrested and put in the common jail. But an angel of the Lord opened the jail doors in the night and let them out, and said to them, read more.
"Go, take your stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new life." And they obeyed, and about daybreak went into the Temple and began to teach. The high priest and his party came over and called together the council and indeed the whole senate of the Israelites, and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought in. But the attendants who went for them could not find them in the jail, and they came back and reported, "We found the prison securely locked up, with the sentries on duty at the doors, but on opening the doors we found no one inside." When the commander of the Temple and the high priests heard this report, they were very much at a loss as to what would come of it. Someone came over and reported to them, "The men that you put in jail are standing right here in the Temple, teaching the people!" Then the commander and his men went and brought them back, but without using violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. So they brought them before the council. The high priest called on them for an explanation. "We strictly forbade you," he said, "to teach on this authority, and here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and propose to hold us responsible for this man's death!" 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. We and the holy Spirit which God has given to those who obey him are witnesses to these things." When they heard this, they were furious, and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law highly regarded by all the people, got up in the council and ordered the men to be removed for a while, and then said, "Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be a person of importance, and a group of men numbering some four hundred joined him. But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared. After him, at the time of the census, Judas of Galilee appeared, and raised a great following, but he too perished, and all his followers were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this idea or movement is of human origin, it will come to naught, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop it. You may actually find yourselves fighting God!" They were convinced by him, and they called the apostles in and had them flogged, and warned them not to speak about the name of Jesus, and then let them go. So they went out from before the council, glad that they had been thought worthy to bear disgrace for the sake of Jesus, and they did not for a single day stop teaching and preaching in the Temple and in private houses the good news of Jesus, the Christ.

and when he saw that this gratified the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, at the time of the festival of Unleavened Bread. He had him seized and put in jail, with four squads of soldiers to guard him, meaning after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the jail, but the church was praying earnestly to God for him. read more.
The night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter was asleep between two soldiers, and fastened with two chains, and watchmen were at the door, guarding the jail, when an angel of the Lord stood at his side, and a light shone in the room, and striking Peter on the side, he woke him, and said to him, "Get up quickly!" The chains dropped from his hands, and the angel said to him, "Put on your belt and your sandals!" And he did so. Then he said to him, "Put on your coat and follow me!" So he followed him out without knowing that what the angel was doing was real, for he thought he was having a vision. They passed the first guard and then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened to them of itself, and they passed out and went along one street, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself, and he said, "Now I am certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the power of Herod and all that the Jewish people were expecting." When he realized his situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a number of people were gathered, praying. When he knocked at the outer door, a maid named Rhoda came to answer it, and when she recognized Peter's voice, in her joy she did not stop to open the door, but ran in and told them that Peter was standing outside. But they said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was so. Then they said, "Then it is his guardian angel!" But Peter kept on knocking. And when they opened the door and saw him they were amazed. He motioned to them to be quiet, and then related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell all this to James and the brothers," he said. Then he left them and went somewhere else. But when morning came, there was no little commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. Herod had inquiries made for him, and when he could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he left Judea for Caesarea, and stayed there.

As Peter was traveling about among them all, he happened to visit God's people at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you! Get up, and make your bed!" And he got up immediately. read more.
And everybody who lived in Lydda or in Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

The next day we left there and went on to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the missionary, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. We spent a number of days there, and in the course of them a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

After our escape we learned that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us remarkable kindness, for they made a fire and welcomed us, because of the rain that had come on and the cold. Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, when a viper crawled out of them because of the heat and fastened on his hand. read more.
When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man is undoubtedly a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, justice will not let him live." But he only shook the creature off into the fire and was unharmed. They expected to see him swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. The governor of the island, whose name was Publius, had estates in that part of the island, and he welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days. Publius' father happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery, and Paul went to see him and after praying laid his hands on him and cured him. After that, the other sick people on the island came and were cured. They made us many presents, and when we sailed, they provided us with everything that we needed.

But when Simon saw that the holy Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power to communicate the holy Spirit to anyone I place my hands upon." But Peter said to him, "Go to destruction with your money, for thinking you could buy God's gift with it! read more.
You have no share or part in this movement, for your heart is not honest in the sight of God. So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if you may not be forgiven for thinking of such a thing. For I see that you are a bitter poison and a bundle of iniquity!"

They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they came across a Jewish magician and false prophet named Barjesus. He was attached to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul and asked them to let him hear God's message. But Elymas the magician??or that is the meaning of his name??pposed them, and tried to keep the governor from accepting the faith. read more.
But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the holy Spirit, and looked at him and said, "You monster of underhandedness and cunning! You son of the devil! You enemy of all that is right! Will you never stop trying to make the Lord's straight paths crooked? The Lord's hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time." Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.

But when Simon saw that the holy Spirit was imparted through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power to communicate the holy Spirit to anyone I place my hands upon." But Peter said to him, "Go to destruction with your money, for thinking you could buy God's gift with it! read more.
You have no share or part in this movement, for your heart is not honest in the sight of God. So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, to see if you may not be forgiven for thinking of such a thing. For I see that you are a bitter poison and a bundle of iniquity!"

But if the religion of death, carved in letters of stone, was ushered in with such splendor, so that the Israelites could not look at Moses' face on account of the brightness that was fading from it, why should not the religion of the Spirit be attended with much greater splendor? If there was splendor in the religion of condemnation, the religion of uprightness must far surpass it in splendor. read more.
For in comparison with its surpassing splendor, what was splendid has come to have no splendor at all. For if what faded away came with splendor, how much more splendid what is permanent must be!

I asked Titus to go and I sent his brother with him. Did Titus make anything out of you? Did not he and I act in the same spirit, and take the very same steps?

He went to Derbe and Lystra also. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy whose mother was a Jewish Christian while his father was a Greek, and who was highly thought of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. read more.
As they traveled on from one town to another, they passed on to the brothers for their observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

As they were engaged in worshiping the Lord and in fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them." So after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.

There was a man named Simon in the town, who had been amazing the Samaritan people by practicing magic there, and who made great pretensions. Everyone there, high and low, made much of him, and said, "He must be what is known as the Great Power of God!" They made much of him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

So it is nothing strange if his servants also masquerade as servants of uprightness. But their doom will fit their actions.

In every way set them an example of good conduct yourself. Teach with sincerity and seriousness, and present a wholesome, unobjectionable message, so that your opponent may be put to shame at finding nothing bad to say about us.

Then Judas who had betrayed him, when he saw that he had been condemned, in his remorse brought back the thirty silver pieces to the high priests and elders, and said, "I did wrong when I handed an innocent man over to death!" They said, "What is that to us? You see to it yourself." And he threw down the silver and left the Temple and went off and hung himself. read more.
The high priests gathered up the money, and they said, "It is not legal to put this into the Temple treasury, for it is blood money." So after consultation they bought with it the Potter's Field as a burial ground for strangers.

He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in Asia.

So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth.

But Paul selected Silas and set out, the brothers commending him to the Lord's favor.

He spoke very confidently in the synagogue at first, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the Way of God to him more correctly.

This plan met the approval of the whole body, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith and of the holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, who had been a convert to Judaism. They brought these men before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.

Do not neglect the gift you have, that was given you with predictions of your work, when the elders laid their hands upon you.

Whatever the endowment God has given you, use it in service to one another, like good dispensers of God's varied mercy.

and a slave of the Lord must not quarrel, but treat everyone kindly; he must be persuasive and unresentful,

Then I cried bitterly because no one could be found fit to open the roll or look into it. But one of the elders said to me, "Do not cry! See! The lion who is of the tribe of Judah, of the line of David, has been victorious so that he can open the roll and break its seals."

So as far as Titus is concerned, he is my partner and comrade in my work for you, while these brothers of ours represent the churches, and are a credit to Christ.

It is for Christ, therefore, that I am an envoy, seeing that God makes his appeal through me. On Christ's behalf I beg you to be reconciled to God.

He was the lamp that burned and shone, and you were ready to be gladdened for a while by his light.

As an example, brothers, of ill-treatment patiently endured, take the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord.

Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the holy Spirit has made you guardians, and be shepherds of the church of God, which he got at the cost of his own life.

So he moved to the house of a devout proselyte named Titius Justus, which was next door to the synagogue.

and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers.

So it came about that Peter stayed for some time in Joppa, at the house of a tanner named Simon.

So after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.

Then they drew lots between them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.

and he has qualified me to serve him in the interests of a new agreement, not in writing but of spirit. For what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I have written briefly to the church, but Diotrephes who likes to be their leader will not accept what I say.

The right way for a man to think of us is as Christ's servants, and managers authorized to distribute the secret truths of God.

For as God's overseer a superintendent must be irreproachable, not arrogant or quick-tempered or given to drink or pugnacious or addicted to dishonest gain,

For it is not myself but Christ Jesus that I am proclaiming as Lord; I am only a slave of yours for Jesus' sake.

Our dear brother Tychicus, my faithful helper and fellow-servant in the Lord's work, will tell you all about me.

and I sent my brother Timothy, a servant of God in preaching the good news of the Christ, to strengthen you in your faith

Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to arouse faith in those whom God has chosen, and the comprehension of religious truth,

And I have a right to feel in this way about you all, because both when I am in prison and when I am defending and vindicating our right to preach the good news, I have you in my heart as all sharing that privilege with me.

and if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood upon the godless world;

And he called the Twelve to him and sent them off two by two, giving them power over the foul spirits.

just as the original eye-witnesses who became teachers of the message have handed it down to us.

As God's fellow-worker, I appeal to you, too, not to accept the favor of God and then waste it.