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So they left and went from village to village, spreading the good news and healing diseases everywhere.


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Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening. He was puzzled because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,


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by others that Elijah had appeared, and by still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life.


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Herod said, "I beheaded John. But who is this man I'm hearing so much about?" So Herod kept trying to see Jesus.


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The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. Then he took them away with him privately to a city called Bethsaida.


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But the crowds found out about this and followed him. He welcomed them and began to speak to them about the kingdom of God and to heal those who needed healing.


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As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away to the neighboring villages and farms so they can rest and get some food, because we are here in a deserted place."


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But he told them, "You give them something to eat."They replied, "We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we go and buy food for all these people."


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Now there were about 5,000 men. So he told his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about 50."


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Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to pass on to the crowd.


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All of them ate and were filled. When they collected the leftover pieces, there were twelve baskets.


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One day while Jesus was praying privately and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"


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They answered, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others one of the ancient prophets who has come back to life."


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He said, "The Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he must be killed, but on the third day he will be raised."


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Then he told all of them, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross every day, and follow me continually,


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because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.


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If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.


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I tell you with certainty, some people who are standing here will not experience death until they see the kingdom of God."


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Now about eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up on a mountain to pray.


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They had a glorified appearance, and were discussing Jesus' departure that he would shortly bring about in Jerusalem.


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Now Peter and the men with him had been overcome by sleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus' glory and the two men standing with him.


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Just as Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter told Jesus, "Master, it's good that we're here! Let's set up three shelters-one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (Peter didn't know what he was saying.)


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But while he was saying this, a cloud appeared and surrounded them, and they became terrified as they were being overshadowed by the cloud.


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Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Keep listening to him!"


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After the voice had spoken, Jesus was alone. The disciples kept silent and at that time told no one about what they had seen.


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Suddenly a man in the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he is my only child.


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Without warning a spirit takes control of him, and he suddenly screams, goes into convulsions, and foams at the mouth. The spirit mauls him and refuses to leave him.


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Jesus answered, "You unbelieving and perverted generation! How much longer must I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here!"


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Even while the boy was coming, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.


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All the people continued to be amazed at the greatness of God. Indeed, everyone was astonished at all the things Jesus was doing. So he told his disciples,


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But they didn't know what this meant. Indeed, the meaning was hidden from them so that they didn't understand it; and they were afraid to ask him about this statement.


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Then he told them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, because the one who is least among all of you is the one who is greatest."


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John said, "Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him, because he wasn't a follower like us."


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When the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem.


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So he sent messengers on ahead of him. On their way they went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him.


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When his disciples James and John observed this rejection, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"


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Jesus told him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."


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After this, the Lord appointed seventy other disciples and was about to send them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place that he intended to go.


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So he instructed them, "The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest.


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If a peaceful person lives there, your greeting of peace will remain with him. But if that's not the case, your greeting will come back to you.


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Stay with the same family, eating and drinking whatever they provide, because the worker deserves his pay. Don't move from house to house.


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'We are wiping off your town's dust that clings to our feet in protest against you! But realize this: the kingdom of God is near!'


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"How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.


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The person who listens to you listens to me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. The person who rejects me rejects the one who sent me."


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The seventy disciples came back and joyously reported, "Lord, even the demons are submitting to us in your name!"


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Look! I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to destroy all the enemy's power, and nothing will ever hurt you.


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However, stop rejoicing because the spirits are submitting to you. Rather, rejoice because your names are written in heaven."


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At that moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus extremely joyful, so Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from wise and intelligent people and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this is what was pleasing to you.


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"All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."


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Then turning to his disciples in private, he told them, "How blessed are the eyes that see what you see!


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Because I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but didn't see them, and to hear the things you hear but didn't hear them."


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Just then an expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus. He asked, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"


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He answered, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor as yourself."


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After careful consideration, Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of bandits. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.


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By chance, a priest was traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he went by on the other side.


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Similarly, a descendant of Levi came to that place. When he saw the man, he also went by on the other side.


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But as he was traveling along, a Samaritan came across the man. When the Samaritan saw him, he was moved with compassion.


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He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.


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The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If you spend more than that, I'll repay you when I come back.'


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"Of these three men, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the bandits?"


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Now as they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.


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She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and kept listening to what he was saying.


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But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, "Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don't you? Then tell her to help me."


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But there's only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her."


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Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."


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So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, 'Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come.


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and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'"


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Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.


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Suppose he answers from inside, 'Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!'


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I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.


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So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you,


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because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.


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"What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish?


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So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"


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Jesus was driving a demon out of a man who was unable to talk. When the demon had gone out, the man began to speak, and the crowds were amazed.


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Since he knew what they were thinking, he told them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is devastated, and a divided household collapses.


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Now, if Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? After all, you say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.


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But when a stronger man than he attacks and defeats him, the stronger man strips off that man's armor in which he trusted and then divides his plunder.


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"Whenever an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry places looking for a place to rest but doesn't find any. So it says, 'I will go back to my home that I left.'


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Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all go in and settle there. And so the final condition of that person is worse than the first."


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As Jesus was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and told him, "How blessed is the womb that gave birth to you and the breasts that nursed you!"


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Now as the crowds continued to throng around Jesus, he went on to say, "This people living today are an evil generation. It craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah,


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because just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.


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The queen of the south will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look, something greater than Solomon is here!


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The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But look, something greater than Jonah is here!"


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"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a hiding place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand, so that those who enter may see its light.


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Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when it is evil, your body is full of darkness.


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Now if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays."


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After Jesus had said this, a Pharisee invited him to have a meal with him. So Jesus went and took his place at the table.


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But the Lord told him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of greed and evil.


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"How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, spices, and every kind of herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.


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How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You love to have the places of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplaces.


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How terrible it will be for you! You are like unmarked graves-people walk on them without realizing it."


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Then one of the experts in the Law told him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us, too."


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Jesus said, "How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law, too! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you don't even lift a finger to ease those burdens.


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How terrible it will be for you! You build monuments for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them!


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So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, because they killed those for whom you are building monuments.


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That is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles. They will kill some of them and persecute others,'


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so those living today will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that was shed since the foundation of the world,


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from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who died between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation!


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How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you kept out those who were trying to go in."


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As Jesus was leaving, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely, interrogating him about many things.


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Meanwhile, the people had gathered by the thousands and were trampling on one another. Jesus began to speak first to his disciples. "Watch out for the yeast-that is, the hypocrisy-of the Pharisees!


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There is nothing covered up that will not be exposed and nothing secret that will not be made known.


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Therefore, what you have said in darkness will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be shouted from the housetops."


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"But I tell you, my friends, never be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can't do anything more.


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I'll show you the one you should be afraid of. Be afraid of the one who has the authority to throw you into hell after killing you. Yes, I tell you, be afraid of him!


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Why, even all the hairs on your head have been counted! Stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows."


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"But I tell you, the Son of Man will acknowledge before God's angels everyone who acknowledges me before people.


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Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.


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When people bring you before synagogue leaders, rulers, or authorities, don't worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,


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Then someone in the crowd told him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me."


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Then he told them, "Be careful to guard yourselves against every kind of greed, because a person's life doesn't consist of the amount of possessions he has."


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Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I'll store all my grain and goods in them.


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Then I'll say to myself, "You've stored up plenty of good things for many years. Take it easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."'


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But God told him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you. Now who will get the things you've accumulated?'


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Then Jesus told his disciples, "That's why I'm telling you to stop worrying about your life-what you will eat-or about your body-what you will wear,


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Consider the crows. They don't plant or harvest, they don't even have a storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!


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Consider how the lilies grow. They don't work or spin yarn, but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.


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Now if that's the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, how much more will he clothe you-you who have little faith?


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"So stop concerning yourselves about what you will eat or what you will drink, and stop being distressed,


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because it is the gentiles who are concerned about all these things. Surely your Father knows that you need them!


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"Sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don't wear out-a dependable treasure in heaven, where no thief can get close and no moth can destroy anything.


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Be like people who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding. As soon as he arrives and knocks, they will open the door for him.


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How blessed are those servants whom the master finds watching for him when he comes! I tell you with certainty, he himself will put on an apron, make them sit down at the table, and go around and serve them.


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How blessed they will be if their master comes in the middle of the night or near dawn and finds them awake!


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But be sure of this: if the homeowner had known at what time the thief were coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into.


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The Lord said, "Who, then, is the faithful and careful servant manager whom his master will put in charge of giving all his other servants their share of food at the right time?


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"But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time to come back,' and begins to beat the other servants and to eat, drink, and get drunk,


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the master of that servant will come on a day when he doesn't expect him and at an hour that he doesn't know. Then his master will punish him severely and assign him a place with unfaithful people.


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That servant who knew what his master wanted but didn't prepare himself or do what was wanted will receive a severe beating.


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But the servant who did things that deserved a beating without knowing it will receive a light beating. Much will be required from everyone to whom much has been given. But even more will be demanded from the one to whom much has been entrusted."


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They will be divided father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."


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Then Jesus told the crowds, "When you see a cloud coming in the west, you immediately say, 'There's going to be a storm,' and that's what happens.


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You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, yet you don't know how to interpret the present time?"


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For example, when you go with your opponent in front of a ruler, do your best to settle with him on the way there. Otherwise, you will be dragged in front of the judge, and the judge will hand you over to an officer, and the officer will throw you into prison.


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At that time, some people who were there told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.


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He asked them, "Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered like this?


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What about those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem?


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Then Jesus told them this parable: "A man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but didn't find any.


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So he told the gardener, 'Look here! For three years I have been coming to look for fruit on this tree but haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it waste the soil?'


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But the gardener replied, 'Sir, leave it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and fertilize it.


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A woman was there who had a spirit that had disabled her for eighteen years. She was hunched over and completely unable to stand up straight.


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But the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, told the crowd, "There are six days when work is to be done. So come on those days to be healed, and not on the Sabbath day."


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The Lord replied to him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey and lead it out of its stall to give it some water?


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Shouldn't this woman, a descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?"


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Even as he was saying this, all of his opponents were blushing with shame. But the rest of the crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.


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It is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches."


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It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."


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"Keep on struggling to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you that many people will try to enter, but won't be able to do so.


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After the homeowner gets up and closes the door, you can stand outside, knock on the door, and say again and again, 'Lord, open the door for us!' But he will answer you, 'I don't know where you come from.'


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But he will tell you, 'I don't know where you come from. Get away from me, all you who practice evil!'


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In that place there will be crying and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves being driven away on the outside.


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At that hour some Pharisees came and told Jesus, "Leave and get away from here, because Herod wants to kill you!"


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He told them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Listen! I am driving out demons and healing today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will finish my work.


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But I must be on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it's not possible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'


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"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you people were unwilling!


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Look! Your house is left vacant to you. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"


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One Sabbath, Jesus went to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal. The guests were watching Jesus closely.


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Then he asked them, "If your son or ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you would pull him out immediately, wouldn't you?"


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"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don't sit down at the place of honor in case someone more important than you was invited by the host.


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Then the host who invited both of you would come to you and say, 'Give this person your place.' In disgrace, you would have to take the place of least honor.


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But when you are invited, go and sit down at the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, 'Friend, move up higher,' and you will be honored in the presence of everyone who eats with you.


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Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted."


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Then he told the man who had invited him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, stop inviting only your friends, brothers, relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return and you would be repaid.


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Instead, when you give a banquet, make it your habit to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.


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Then you will be blessed because they can't repay you. And you will be repaid when the righteous are resurrected."


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Now one of those eating with him heard this and told him, "How blessed is the person who will eat in the kingdom of God!"


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When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, 'Come! Everything is now ready.'


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Every single one of them began asking to be excused. The first told him, 'I bought a field, and I need to go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.'


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"So the servant went back and reported all this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, 'Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.'


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Then the master told the servant, 'Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full.


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"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can't be my disciple.


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"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. He will first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough money to finish it, won't he?


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Otherwise, if he lays a foundation and can't finish the building, everyone who watches will begin to ridicule him


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"Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He will first sit down and consider whether with 10,000 men he can fight the one coming against him with 20,000 men, won't he?


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If he can't, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace while the other king is still far away.


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It is suitable neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. People throw it away. Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!"


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"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. He leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness and looks for the one that is lost until he finds it, doesn't he?


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Then he goes home, calls his friends and neighbors together, and says to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I've found my lost sheep!'


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In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don't need to repent."


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"Or suppose a woman has ten coins and loses one of them. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it, doesn't she?


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When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin that I lost!'


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In the same way, I tell you that there is joy in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents."


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The younger one told his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So the father divided his property between them.


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A few days later, the younger son gathered everything he owned and traveled to a distant country. There he wasted it all on wild living.


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After he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.


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So he went out to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.


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No one would give him anything, even though he would gladly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating.


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"Then he came to his senses and said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death!


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"So he got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him affectionately.


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Then his son told him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. I don't deserve to be called your son anymore.'


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But the father told his servants, 'Hurry! Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.


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Because my son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.


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"Now the father's older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing.


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The servant told him, 'Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got him back safely.'


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"Then the older son became angry and wouldn't go into the house. So his father came out and began to plead with him.


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But he answered his father, 'Listen! All these years I've worked like a slave for you. I've never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you've never given me so much as a young goat for a feast so I could celebrate with my friends.


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But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came back, you killed the fattened calf for him!'


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But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.'"


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Now Jesus was saying to the disciples, "A rich man had a servant manager who was accused of wasting his assets.


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So he called for him and asked him, 'What's this I hear about you? You can't be my manager any longer. Now give me a report about your management!'


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"Then the servant manager told himself, 'What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I'm not strong enough to plow, and I'm ashamed to beg.


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I know what I'll do so that people will welcome me into their homes when I'm dismissed from my job.'


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"So he called for each of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'


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The man replied, 'A hundred jars of olive oil.' The manager told him, 'Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write "50."'


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Then he asked another debtor, 'How much do you owe?' The man replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.' The manager told him, 'Get your bill and write "80."'


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The master praised the dishonest servant manager for being so clever, because worldly people are more clever than enlightened people in dealing with their own.


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"I'm telling you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they will welcome you into eternal homes.


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Whoever is faithful with very little is also faithful with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with very little is also dishonest with a lot.


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And if you haven't been faithful with what belongs to foreigners, who will give you what is your own?


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"No servant can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth!"


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So he told them, "You try to justify yourselves in front of people, but God knows your hearts, because what is highly valued by people is detestable to God.


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"The Law and the Prophets remained until John. Since then, the good news about the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone entering it is under attack.


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However, it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one stroke of a letter in the Law to be dropped.


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Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."


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"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day.


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He was always trying to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.


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"One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.


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In the afterlife, where he was in constant torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus by his side.


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So he shouted, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire.'


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"But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that during your lifetime you received blessings, while Lazarus received hardships. But now he is being comforted here, while you suffer.


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Besides all this, a wide chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot do so, nor can they cross from your side to us.'


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because I have five brothers-to warn them, so that they won't end up in this place of torture, too.'


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"But the rich man replied, 'No, father Abraham! But if someone from the dead went to them, they would repent.'


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"Then Abraham told him, 'If your brothers do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.'"


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Jesus told his disciples, "It is inevitable that temptations to sin will come, but how terrible it will be for the person through whom they come!


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It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.


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Even if he sins against you seven times in a day and comes back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."4


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The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you!


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"Suppose a man among you has a servant plowing or watching sheep. Would he say to him when he comes in from the field, 'Come at once and have something to eat'?


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Of course not. Instead, he would say to him, 'Get dinner ready for me, and put on your apron and wait on me until I eat and drink. Then you can eat and drink.'


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That's the way it is with you. When you have done everything you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless servants. We have done only what we ought to have done.'"


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When Jesus saw them, he told them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." While they were going, they were made clean.


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Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display.


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People won't be saying, 'Look! Here it is!' or 'There it is!' because now the kingdom of God is among you."


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Then Jesus told the disciples, "The time will come during which you will long to see one of these days when the Son of Man is with you, but you will not see it.


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People will say to you, 'Look! There he is!' or 'Look! Here he is!' But don't go and chase after him.


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Because just as lightning flashes and shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his time.


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People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed all of them.


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So it was in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.


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But on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed all of them.


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"The person who is on the housetop that day must not come down to get his belongings out of his house. The person in the field, too, must not turn back to what's left behind.


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I tell you, two will be seated on the same couch that night. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind.


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Two women will be grinding grain together. The one will be taken, and the other will be left behind."


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Then they asked him, "Where, Lord, will this take place?" He told them, "Wherever there's a corpse, there the vultures will gather."


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In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'


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yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.'"


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Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them?


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I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"


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Jesus also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves, thinking they were righteous, but who looked down on everyone else:


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The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, 'O God, I thank you that I'm not like other people-thieves, dishonest people, adulterers, or even this tax collector.


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"But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. Instead, he continued to beat his chest and said, 'O God, be merciful to me, the sinner that I am!'


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I tell you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted."


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Now some people were even bringing their infants to Jesus to have him touch them. But when the disciples saw this, they sternly told the people not to do that.


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Jesus, however, called for the children and said, "Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like these.


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I tell you with certainty, whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never get into it at all."


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You know the commandments: 'Never commit adultery. Never murder. Never steal. Never give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.'"


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When Jesus heard this, he told him, "You still need to do one thing. Sell everything you have and give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me."


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So when Jesus saw how sad he was, he said, "How hard it is for rich people to get into the kingdom of God!


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Indeed, it is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God."


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Jesus told them, "I tell you with certainty, there is no one who has left his home, wife, brothers, parents, or children because of the kingdom of God


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Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "Pay attention! We're going up to Jerusalem. Everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.


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But they didn't understand any of this. What he said was hidden from them, and they didn't know what he meant.


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The people at the front of the crowd sternly told him to be quiet, but he started shouting even louder, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"


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Immediately the man could see again and began to follow Jesus, glorifying God. All the people saw this and gave praise to God.


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He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he couldn't do so due to the crowd, since he was a short man.


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When Jesus came to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today."


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But all the people who saw this began to complain: "Jesus is going to be the guest of a notorious sinner!"


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Later, Zacchaeus stood up and announced to the Lord, "Lord, I'll give half of my possessions to the poor. I'll pay four times as much as I owe if I have cheated anyone in any way."


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Then Jesus told him, "Today salvation has come to this home, because this man is also a descendant of Abraham,


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As they were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and because the people thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately.


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He called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He told them, 'Invest this money until I come back.'


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But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation to follow him and to announce, 'We don't want this man to rule over us!'


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"After he was appointed king, the prince came back. He ordered the servants to whom he had given the money to be called so he could find out what they had earned by investing.


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The king told him, 'Well done, good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.'


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"Then the other servant came and said, 'Sir, look! Here's your coin. I've kept it in a cloth for safekeeping


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because I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You withdraw what you didn't deposit and harvest what you didn't plant.'


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The king told him, 'I will judge you by your own words, you evil servant! You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, and that I withdraw what I didn't deposit and harvest what I didn't plant?


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Then why didn't you put my money in the bank? When I returned, I could have collected it with interest.'


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"So the king told those standing nearby, 'Take the coin away from him and give it to the man who has the ten coins.'


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'I tell you, to everyone who has something, more will be given, but from the person who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.


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But as for these enemies of mine who didn't want me to be their king-bring them here and slaughter them in my presence!'"


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When he came near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples on ahead


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and said, "Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter, you will find a colt tied up that no one has ever ridden. Untie it, and bring it along.


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He was now approaching the descent from the Mount of Olives. The whole crowd of disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice because of all the miracles they had seen.


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They said, "How blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"


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"If you had only known today what could have brought you peace! But now it is hidden from your sight,


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because the days will come when your enemies will build walls around you, surround you, and close you in on every side.


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They will level you to the ground-you and those who live within your city limits. They will not leave one stone on another within your walls, because you didn't recognize the time when God came to help you."


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He told them, "It is written, 'My house is to be called a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a hideout for bandits!"


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Then he began teaching in the Temple every day. The high priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him,


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One day while Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple and telling them the good news, the high priests and the scribes came with the elders


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and asked him, "Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"


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They discussed this among themselves: "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?'


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But if we say, 'From humans,' all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced that John was a prophet."


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Then he began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went abroad for a long time.


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At the right time he sent a servant to the farmers in order to get his share of the produce of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him back empty-handed.


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He sent another servant, and they beat him, too, treated him shamefully, and sent him back empty-handed.


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"Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What should I do? I'll send my son whom I love. Maybe they'll respect him.'


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But when the farmers saw him, they talked it over among themselves and said, 'This is the heir. Let's kill him so that the inheritance will be ours!'


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So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?


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He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others." Those who heard him said, "That must never happen!"


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But Jesus looked at them and asked, "What does this text mean: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?


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Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls."


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When the scribes and the high priests realized that Jesus had told this parable about them, they wanted to arrest him right then, but they were afraid of the crowd.


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So they watched him closely and sent spies who pretended to be honest men in order to trap him in what he would say. They wanted to hand him over to the jurisdiction of the governor.


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So they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and that you don't favor any individual, but teach the way of God truthfully.


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So he told them, "Then give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."


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So they couldn't catch him before the people in what he said. Amazed at his answer, they became silent.


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and asked him, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, the man should marry the widow and have children for his brother.


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but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.


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Nor can they die anymore, because they are like the angels and, since they share in the resurrection, are God's children.


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Even Moses demonstrated in the story about the bush that the dead are raised, when he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'


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He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, because he considers all people to be alive to him."


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"Beware of the scribes! They like to walk around in long robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.


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because all the others contributed to the offering out of their surplus, but she, in her poverty, dropped in everything she had to live on."


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Now while some people were talking about the Temple-how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God-he said,


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"As for these things that you see, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another that will not be knocked down."


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Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will these things take place, and what will be the sign that these things are about to take place?"


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He said, "Be careful that you are not deceived, because many will come in my name and say, 'I AM' and 'The time has come.' Don't follow them.


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When you hear of wars and revolutions, never be alarmed, because these sort of things must take place first, but the end won't come right away."


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Then he went on to say to them, "Nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.


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There will be great earthquakes and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be fearful events and awful signs from heaven."


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"But before all these things take place, people will arrest you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake.


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because I will give you the ability to speak, along with wisdom, that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.


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"You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death.


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Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in the countryside must not go into it,


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"How terrible it will be for those women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! Because there will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people.


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They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled."


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"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and there will be distress on earth among the nations that are confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves.


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People will faint from fear and apprehension because of the things that are to come on the inhabited world, because the powers of heaven will be shaken.


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"Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is approaching."


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In the same way, when you see these things taking place, you will know that the kingdom of God is near.


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"Constantly be on your guard so that your hearts will not be loaded down with self-indulgence, drunkenness, and the worries of this life, or that day will take you by surprise


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So be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man."


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Now during the day Jesus would teach in the Temple, but when evening came he would go out and spend the night on what is called the Mount of Olives.


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So the high priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put him to death, because they were afraid of the crowd.


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So he went off and discussed with the high priests and the Temple police how he could betray Jesus to them.


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Judas accepted their offer and began to look for a good opportunity to betray Jesus to them when no crowd was present.


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Then the day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed.


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He told them, "Just after you go into the city, a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters


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and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks you, "Where is the room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?"'


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because I tell you, I will never eat it again until it finds its fulfillment in the kingdom of God."


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because I tell you, from now on I will never drink the product of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."


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Then he took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it in pieces, and handed it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Keep on doing this in memory of me."


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He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant sealed by my blood, which is being poured out for you.


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The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been determined, but how terrible it will be for that man by whom he is betrayed!"


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But he told them, "The kings of the gentiles lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors.


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But you are not to do so. On the contrary, the greatest among you should become like the youngest, and the one who leads should become like the one who serves.


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Because who is greater, the one who sits at the table, or the one who serves? It is the one at the table, isn't it? But I am among you as one who serves.


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so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit down on thrones to govern the twelve tribes of Israel."


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but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail. When you have come back, you must strengthen your brothers."


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But Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know me."


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Then Jesus asked his disciples, "When I sent you out without a wallet, traveling bag, or sandals, you didn't lack anything, did you?" They replied, "Nothing at all."


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Then he told them, "But now whoever has a wallet must take it along, and his traveling bag, too. And the one who has no sword must sell his coat and buy one.


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Because I tell you, what has been written about me must be fulfilled: 'He was counted among the criminals.' Indeed, what is written about me must be fulfilled."


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In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like large drops of blood falling on the ground.


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While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd arrived. The man called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them, and he came close to Jesus to kiss him.


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When those who were around Jesus saw what was about to take place, they asked, "Lord, should we attack with our swords?"


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Then Jesus told the high priests, the Temple police, and the elders, who had come for him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit?


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While I was with you day after day in the Temple, you didn't lay a hand on me. But this is your hour, when darkness reigns!"


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Then they arrested him, led him away, and brought him to the high priest's house. But Peter was following at a distance.


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When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had taken their seats, Peter, too, sat down among them.


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A little later a man looked at him and said, "You are one of them, too." But Peter said, "Mister, I am not!"


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About an hour later another man emphatically asserted, "This man was certainly with him, because he is a Galilean!"


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But Peter said, "Mister, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.


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Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word from the Lord, and how he had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times."


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As soon as day came, the elders of the people, the high priests, and the scribes assembled and brought him before their Council.


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They said, "If you are the Messiah, tell us." But he told them, "If I tell you, you won't believe me,


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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."


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But they kept insisting, "He is stirring up the people with what he teaches all over Judea, from where he started in Galilee to this place."


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When he learned with certainty that Jesus came from Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time.


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Now Herod was very glad to see Jesus, because he had been wanting to see him for a long time on account of what he had heard about him. He was also hoping to see some sign done by him.


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Even Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt and made fun of him. He put a magnificent robe on Jesus and sent him back to Pilate.


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So Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day. Before this they had been enemies.


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and told them, "You brought this man to me as one who turns the people against the government. And here in your presence I have examined him and have found him "Not Guilty" of the charges you make against him.


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Then he spoke to them a third time: "What has he done wrong? I have found nothing in him worthy of death. So I will punish him and let him go."


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But they kept pressing him with loud shouts, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their shouts began to prevail.


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So he released the man who had been put in prison for revolt and murder-the man whose release they continued to demand-but he let them have their way with Jesus.


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As they led Jesus away, they grabbed Simon, a man from Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and they put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.


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But Jesus turned to them and said, "Women of Jerusalem, stop crying for me. Instead, cry for yourselves and for your children,


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because the time is surely coming when people will say, 'How blessed are the women who couldn't bear children and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'


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When they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.


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Jesus kept saying, "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing." Then they divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.


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Meanwhile, the people stood looking on. The leaders were mocking him by saying, "He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Messiah of God, the chosen one!"


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There was also an inscription over him written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: "This is the King of the Jews."


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Now one of the criminals hanging there kept insulting him, "You are the Messiah, aren't you? Save yourself and us!"


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But the other criminal rebuked him, "Aren't you afraid of God, since you are suffering the same penalty?


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We have been condemned justly, because we are getting what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong."


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Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit." After he said this, he breathed his last.


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When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, "This man certainly was righteous!"


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When all the crowds who had come together for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they beat their chests and left.


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But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, were standing at a distance watching these things.


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he had not voted for their plan and action-from the Jewish town of Arimathea; and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.


text:
Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb cut in the rock, in which no one had yet been laid.


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So the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee, following close behind, saw the tomb and how his body was laid.


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Then they went back and prepared spices and perfumes, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.


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But at early dawn on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.


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While the women remained terrified, bowing their faces to the ground, the men asked them, "Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is living?


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They returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven disciples and all the others.


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The women who told the apostles about it were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some others.


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Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. He stooped down and saw only the linen cloths. Then he went home, wondering about what had happened.


text:
On the same day, two of Jesus' followers were walking to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.


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While they were discussing and analyzing what had happened, Jesus himself approached and began to walk with them,


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He asked them, "What are you discussing with each other as you're walking along?" They stood still and looked gloomy.


text:
The one whose name was Cleopas answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know what happened there in the past few days?"


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He asked them, "What things?"They answered him, "The events involving Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in what he said and did before God and all the people,


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and how our high priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and had him crucified.


text:
But we kept hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel. What is more, this is now the third day since these things occurred.


text:
Even some of our women have startled us by what they told us. They were at the tomb early this morning


text:
and didn't find his body there, so they came back and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who were saying that he was alive.


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Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. However, they didn't see him."


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Then Jesus told them, "O, how foolish you are! How slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!


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Then, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them all the passages of Scripture about himself.


text:
As they came near the village where the two men were headed, Jesus acted as though he were going farther.


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But they strongly urged him, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the daylight is nearly gone." So he went in to stay with them.


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While he was at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it in pieces, and gave it to them.


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Then they asked each other, "Our hearts kept burning within us as he was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us, didn't they?"


text:
They got up right away, went back to Jerusalem, and found the eleven disciples and their companions all together.


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Then the two men began to tell what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him when he broke the bread in pieces.


text:
While they were all talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and told them, "Peace be with you."


text:
Look at my hands and my feet, because it's really me. Touch me and look at me, because a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones as you see that I have."


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Even though they were still skeptical due to their joy and astonishment, Jesus asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"


text:
Then he told them, "These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled."


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He told them, "This is how it is written: the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,


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and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.


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I am sending to you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."


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However, to all who received him, those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God's children,


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who were born, not merely in a genetic sense, nor from lust, nor from man's desire, but from the will of God.


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The Word became flesh and lived among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father's unique Son, who is full of grace and truth.


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John told the truth about him when he cried out, "This is the person about whom I said, 'The one who comes after me ranks higher than me, because he existed before me.'"


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This was John's testimony when the Jews sent priests and descendants of Levi to him from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"


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So they asked him, "Well then, are you Elijah?" John said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."


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"Who are you?" they asked him. "We must give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"


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He replied, "I am '...a voice crying out in the wilderness, "Prepare the Lord's highway,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."


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They asked him, "Why, then, are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?"


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The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!


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This is the one about whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks above me, because he existed before me.'


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I didn't recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The person on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'


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But when Jesus turned around and saw them following, he asked them, "What are you looking for?"They asked him, "Rabbi," (which is translated "Teacher"), "where are you staying?"


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He told them, "Come and see!" So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon.


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The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, "We have found the Anointed One!" (which is translated "Messiah").


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He led Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him intently and said, "You are Simon, John's son. You will be called Cephas!" (which is translated "Peter").


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Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote-Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth."


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Nathaniel asked him, "Out of Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?" Philip told him, "Come and see!"


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Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said about him, "Look, a genuine Israeli, in whom there is no deceit!"


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Nathaniel asked him, "How do you know me?"Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you."


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Jesus told him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that."


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Then he told him, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, you will see heaven standing open and the angels of God going up and coming down to the Son of Man."


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Now standing there were six stone water jars used for the Jewish rites of purification, each one holding from 20 to 30 gallons.


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Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the banquet." So they did.


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When the man in charge of the banquet tasted the water that had become wine (without knowing where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called for the bridegroom


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and told him, "Everyone serves the best wine first, and the cheap kind when people are drunk. But you have kept the best wine until now!"


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Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.


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After this, Jesus went down to Capernaum-he, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples-and they remained there for a few days.


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In the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as moneychangers sitting at their tables.


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After making a whip out of cords, he drove all of them out of the Temple, including the sheep and the cattle. He scattered the coins of the moneychangers and knocked over their tables.


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Then he told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"


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The Jews said, "This sanctuary has been under construction for 46 years, and you're going to rebuild it in three days?"


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After he had been raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scripture and the statement that Jesus had made.


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While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, many people believed in him because they saw the signs that he was doing.


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and didn't need anyone to tell him what people were like, because he himself knew what was in every person.


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He came to Jesus at night and told him, "Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, because no one can perform these signs that you are doing unless God is with him."


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Jesus replied to him, "Truly, I tell you with certainty, unless a person is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God."


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Nicodemus asked him, "How can a person be born when he is old? He can't go back into his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?"


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Jesus answered, "Truly, I tell you with certainty, unless a person is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.


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The wind blows where it wants to. You hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. That's the way it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."


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Truly, I tell you with certainty, we know what we're talking about, and we testify about what we've seen. Yet you people do not accept our testimony.


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If I have told you people about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?


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"No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.


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"For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life.


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Because God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.


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Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God's unique Son.


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And this is the basis for judgment: The light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light because their actions were evil.


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Everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed.


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But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may become evident that his actions have God's approval."


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After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside. He spent some time there with them and began baptizing.


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John was also baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People kept coming and were being baptized,


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so they went to John and told him, "Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one about whom you testified-look, he's baptizing, and everyone is going to him!"


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You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.'


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It is the bridegroom who gets the bride, yet the bridegroom's friend, who merely stands by and listens for him, is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom's voice. That's why this joy of mine is now complete.


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The one who comes from above is superior to everything. The one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to everything.


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The one whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God does not give the Spirit in limited measure to him.


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The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.


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Now when Jesus realized that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John-


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So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.


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Jacob's Well was also there, and Jesus, tired out by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.


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The Samaritan woman asked him, "How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.


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Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, 'Please give me a drink,' you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water."


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The woman told him, "Sir, you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water?


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You're not greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it, along with his sons and his flocks, are you?"


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But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life."


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The woman told him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I won't get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."


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The woman answered him, "I don't have a husband." Jesus told her, "You are quite right in saying, 'I don't have a husband,'


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because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true."


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Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that the place where people should worship is in Jerusalem."


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Jesus told her, "Believe me, dear lady, the hour is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.


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You don't know what you're worshiping. We Jews know what we're worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews.


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Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him.


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The woman told him, "I know that the Anointed One is coming, who is being called 'Messiah'. When that person comes, he will explain everything."


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At this point his disciples arrived, and they were astonished that he was talking to a woman. Yet no one said, "What do you want from her?" or, "Why are you talking to her?"


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You say, don't you, 'In four more months the harvest will begin?' Look, I tell you, open your eyes and observe that the fields are ready for harvesting now!


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The one who harvests is already receiving his wages and gathering a crop for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who harvests may rejoice together.


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I have sent you to harvest what you have not worked for. Others have worked, and you have adopted their work as your own."


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Now many of the Samaritans of that town believed in Jesus because the woman had testified, "He told me everything I've ever done."


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So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days.


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They kept telling the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, because now we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the Savior of the world."


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When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything that he had done in Jerusalem during the festival and because they, too, had gone to the festival.


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So Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Meanwhile, in Capernaum there was a government official whose son was ill.


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When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him repeatedly to come down and heal his son, because he was about to die.


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Jesus told him, "Go home. Your son will live." The man believed what Jesus told him and started back home.


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So he asked them at what hour he had begun to recover, and they told him, "The fever left him yesterday at one o'clock in the afternoon."


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Then the father realized that this was the very hour when Jesus had told him, "Your son will live." So he himself believed, along with his whole family.


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and under these a large number of sick people were lying-blind, lame, or paralyzed-waiting for the movement of the water.


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At certain times an angel of the Lord would go down into the pool and stir up the water, and whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.


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When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"


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The sick man answered him, "Sir, I don't have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I'm trying to get there, someone else steps down ahead of me."


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The man immediately became well, and he picked up his mat and started walking. Now that day was a Sabbath.


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So the Jews told the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.


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But the one who had been healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd in that place.


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Later on, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, "See, you have become well. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."


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So the Jews were trying all the harder to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.


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Jesus told them, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the Son can do nothing on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing, What the Father does, the Son does likewise.


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The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him even greater actions than these, so that you may be amazed.


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Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he chooses.


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so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.


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"Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, whoever hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life.


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Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the time approaches, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live.


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"Don't be amazed at this, because the time is approaching when everyone in their graves will hear the Son of Man's voice


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and will come out-those who have done what is good to the resurrection that leads to life, and those who have practiced what is evil to the resurrection that ends in condemnation.


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I can do nothing on my own accord. I judge according to what I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me."


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That man John was a lamp that burns and brightly shines, and for a while you were willing to rejoice in his light.


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"But I have a greater testimony than John's, because the actions that the Father has given me to complete-the very actions that I am doing-testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.


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Moreover, the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like,


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You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about me.


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I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me. Yet if another man comes in his own name, you will accept him.


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How can you believe when you accept each other's praise and do not look for the praise that comes from the only God?


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Do not suppose that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope,


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A large crowd kept following him because they had seen the signs that he was performing by healing the sick.


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When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he asked Philip, "Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?"


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Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread isn't enough for each of them to have a little."


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"There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish. But what are these among so many people?"


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Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was plenty of grass in that area, so they sat down, numbering about 5,000 men.


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Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated. He also distributed as much fish as they wanted.


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When they were completely satisfied, Jesus told his disciples, "Collect the pieces that are left over so that nothing is wasted."


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So they collected and filled twelve baskets full of pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.


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When the people saw the sign that he had done, they kept saying, "Truly this is the Prophet who was to come into the world!"


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Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the hillside by himself.


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got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already fallen, and Jesus had not yet come to them.


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After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea toward their boat. They became terrified.


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So they were glad to take him on board, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.


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The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea noticed that only one boat had been there, and no other, and that Jesus had not gotten into that boat with his disciples. Instead, his disciples had gone away by themselves.


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Other small boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.


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When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into these boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.


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When they had found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"


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Jesus replied to them, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were completely satisfied.


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Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him."


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So they asked him, "What sign are you going to do so that we may see it and believe in you? What actions are you performing?


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Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"


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Jesus told them, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.


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Jesus told them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty.


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And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything that he has given me, but should raise it to life on the last day.


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This is my Father's will: That everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day."


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Then the Jews began grumbling about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."


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They kept saying, "This is Jesus, the son of Joseph, isn't it, whose father and mother we know? So how can he say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"


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No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him to life on the last day.


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It is written in the Prophets, 'And all of them will be taught by God.' Everyone who has listened to the Father and has learned anything comes to me.


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Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who comes from God. This one has seen the Father.


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I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."


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So Jesus told them, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.


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Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day,


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Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will also live because of me.


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This is the bread that came down from heaven, not the kind that your ancestors ate. They died, but the one who eats this bread will live forever."


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When many of his disciples heard this, they said, "This is a difficult statement. Who can accept it?"


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But Jesus, knowing within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, "Does this offend you?


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It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh accomplishes nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.


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But there are some among you who do not believe..."-because Jesus knew from the beginning those who weren't believing, as well as the one who would betray him.


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So he said, "That's why I told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted him by the Father."


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Now he was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, because this man was going to betray him, even though he was one of the Twelve.


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After this, Jesus traveled about in Galilee, because he didn't want to travel in Judea, since the Jews there were trying to kill him.


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So his brothers told him, "You should leave this place and go to Judea, so that your disciples can see the actions that you're doing,


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since no one acts in secret if he wants to be known publicly. If you're going to do these things, you should reveal yourself to the world!"


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Go up to the festival yourselves. I am not yet going to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come."


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But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up himself, not openly but, as it were, in secret.


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And there was a great deal of discussion about him among the crowds. Some were saying, "He is a good man," while others were saying, "No, he is deceiving the crowds!"


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The Jewish leaders were astonished and remarked, "How can this man be so educated when he has never gone to school?"


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If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether this teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.


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The one who speaks on his own seeks his own praise. But the one who seeks the praise of him who sent him is genuine, and there is nothing false in him.


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Moses gave you the Law, didn't he? Yet none of you is keeping the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?"


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Moses gave you circumcision-not that it is from Moses, but from the Patriarchs-and so you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.


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If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath?


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Then some of the people of Jerusalem began saying, "This is the man they are trying to kill, isn't it?


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And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?


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We know where this man comes from. But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from."


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At this point Jesus, still teaching in the Temple, shouted, "So you know me and know where I have come from? I have not come on my own accord. But the one who sent me is true, and he is the one you do not know.


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However, many in the crowd believed in him, saying, "When the Messiah comes, he won't do more signs than this man has done, will he?"


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The Pharisees heard the crowd debating these things about him, so the high priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus.


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Then Jesus said, "I will be with you only a little while longer, and then I am going back to the one who sent me.


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Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we won't be able to find him? Surely he's not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?


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What does this statement mean that he said, 'You will look for me but will not find me,' and 'Where I will be, you cannot come'?"


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On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!


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The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have rivers of living water flowing from his heart."


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Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit was not yet present and Jesus had not yet been glorified.


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while others were saying, "This is the Messiah!" But some were saying, "The Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he?


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Doesn't the Scripture say that the Messiah is from David's family and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"


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Then the officers returned to the high priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him?"


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"Surely our Law does not condemn a person without first hearing from him and finding out what he is doing, does it?"


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They answered him, "You aren't from Galilee, too, are you? Search and see that no prophet comes from Galilee."


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At daybreak he appeared again in the Temple, and all the people came to him. So he sat down and began to teach them.


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But the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. After setting her before them,


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They said this to test him, so that they might have a charge against him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.


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When they persisted in questioning him, he straightened up and told them, "Let the person among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."


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When they heard this, they went away one by one, beginning with the oldest, and he was left alone with the woman standing there.


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Then Jesus stood up and asked her, "Dear lady, where are your accusers? Hasn't anyone condemned you?"


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"No one, sir," she replied. Then Jesus said, "I don't condemn you, either. Go home, and from now on do not sin any more."


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Later on Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."


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Jesus answered them, "Even though I am testifying about myself, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.


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Yet even if I should judge, my judgment would be valid, because it is not I alone who judges, but I and the one who sent me.


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Then they asked him, "Where is this Father of yours?" Jesus replied, "You do not know me or my Father. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also."


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He spoke these words in the treasury, while he was teaching in the Temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.


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Later on he told them again, "I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going."


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So the Jews were asking, "He isn't going to kill himself, is he? Is that why he said, 'You cannot come where I am going'?"


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He told them, "You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, but I am not of this world.


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That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins."


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I have much to say about you and to condemn you for. But the one who sent me is truthful, and what I have heard from him I declare to the world."


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So Jesus told them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own authority. Instead, I speak only what the Father has taught me.


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Moreover, the one who sent me is with me. He has never left me alone because I always do what pleases him."


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So Jesus told those Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are really my disciples.


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They replied to him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves to anybody. So how can you say, 'You will be set free'?"


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Jesus answered them, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.


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"I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are trying to kill me because you've not received what I've told you.


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I declare what I have seen in my Father's presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father."


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They replied to him, "Our father is Abraham!" Jesus told them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did.


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But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham would not have done that.


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You are doing your father's actions."They told him, "We are not illegitimate children. We have one Father, God himself."


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Jesus told them, "If God were your Father, you would have loved me, because I came from God and am here. I have not come on my own accord, but he sent me.


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You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and has never stood for truth, since there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.


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The one who belongs to God listens to the words of God. The reason you do not listen is because you do not belong to God."


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The Jews replied to him, "Surely we are right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, aren't we?"


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Then the Jews told him, "Now we really know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, but you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.'


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You aren't greater than our father Abraham, who died, are you? The prophets also died. Who are you making yourself out to be?"


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Jesus answered, "If I were trying to glorify myself, my glory would mean nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'


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You don't know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I don't know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word.


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His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that caused him to be born blind?"


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Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so that God's work might be revealed in him.


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I must do the work of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is approaching, when no one can work.


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After saying this, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he spread the mud on the man's eyes


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and told him, "Go and wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated "Sent One"). So he went off, washed, and came back seeing.


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Then the neighbors and those who had previously seen him as a beggar said, "This is the man who used to sit and beg, isn't it?"


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Some were saying, "It's him," while others were saying, "No, but it's someone like him." He himself kept saying, "It's me!"


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He said, "The man named Jesus made some mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So off I went and washed, and I received my sight."


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So the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had gained his sight. He told them, "He put mud on my eyes, then I washed, and now I can see."


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Some of the Pharisees began to remark, "This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath." But others were saying, "How can a sinful man perform such signs?" And there was a division among them.


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So they asked the formerly blind man again, "What do you say about him, since it was your eyes he healed?" He said, "He is a prophet."


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The Jews did not believe that the man had been blind and had gained sight until they summoned his parents


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But we don't know how it is that he now sees, and we don't know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself."


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His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be thrown out of the synagogue.


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The Jewish leaders summoned the man who had been blind a second time and told him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner."


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But he responded, "I don't know whether he is a sinner or not. The one thing I do know is that I used to be blind and now I can see!"


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He answered them, "I've already told you, but you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don't want to become his disciples, too, do you?"


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The man answered them, "This is an amazing thing! You don't know where he comes from, yet he healed my eyes.


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We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but he does listen to anyone who worships him and does his will.


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Ever since creation it has never been heard that anyone healed the eyes of a man who was born blind.


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Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. So when he found him, he asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"


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Then Jesus said, "I have come into this world to judge it, so that those who are blind may see and so that those who see may become blind."


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Some of the Pharisees who were near him overheard this and asked him, "We aren't blind, too, are we?"


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Jesus told them, "If you were blind, you would not have any sin. But now that you insist, 'We see,' your sin still exists."


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"Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the person who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a bandit.


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It is to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it is his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.


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When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.


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They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."


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I am the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.


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The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.


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The hired worker, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, deserts the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf snatches them and scatters them,


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I have other sheep that don't belong to this fold. I must lead these also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.


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No one is taking it from me; I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is what my Father has commanded me."


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Others were saying, "These are not the words of a man who is demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?"


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So the Jews surrounded him and quizzed him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us so plainly."


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Jesus answered them, "I have told you, but you do not believe it. The actions that I do in my Father's name testify on my behalf,


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What my Father has given me is more important than anything, and no one can snatch it from the Father's hand.


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Jesus replied to them, "I have shown you many good actions from my Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?"


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The Jews answered him, "We are not going to stone you for a good action, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, are making yourself God!"


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If he called those to whom a message from God came 'gods' (and the Scripture cannot be disregarded),


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how can you say to the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?


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But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe the actions, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."


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Then he went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and he remained there.


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Many people came to him and kept saying, "John never performed a sign, but everything that John said about this man is true!"


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Mary was the woman who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was ill.


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But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness is not meant to end in death. It is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."


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The disciples told him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you to death, and you are going back there again?"


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Jesus replied, "There are twelve hours in the day, aren't there? If anyone walks during the day he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.


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These were the things he said. Then after this he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am leaving to wake him up."


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Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was speaking about resting or sleeping.


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Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, told his fellow disciples, "Let's go, too, so that we may die with him!"


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Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live.


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"Yes, Lord," she told him. "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world."


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When she had said this, she went away and called her sister Mary and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you!"


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When the Jews who had been with her, consoling her in the house, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she had gone to the tomb to cry there.


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As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet and told him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."


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When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was greatly troubled in spirit and deeply moved.


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But some of them said, "Surely the one who opened the eyes of the blind man could have kept this man from dying, couldn't he?"


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Jesus said, "Remove the stone."Martha, the dead man's sister, told him, "Lord, there must be a stench by now, because he's been dead for four days."


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I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me."


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The man who had died came out, his hands and feet tied with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus told them, "Untie him, and let him go."


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So the high priests and the Pharisees assembled the Council and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs.


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If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation."


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You don't realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed."


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Now he did not say this on his own initiative. As high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,


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and not only for the nation, but that he would also gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad.


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As a result, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews. Instead, he went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness. There he remained with his disciples.


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Now the Jewish Passover was approaching, and before the Passover many people from the countryside went up to Jerusalem to purify themselves.


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They kept looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the Temple, "What do you think? Surely he won't come to the festival, will he?"


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Now the high priests and the Pharisees had given orders that whoever knew where he was should tell them so that they could arrest him.


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Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus lived, the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead.


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There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.


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Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume made of pure nard and anointed Jesus' feet. She wiped his feet with her hair, and the house became filled with the fragrance of the perfume.


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He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it.


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When the large crowd of Jews realized that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.


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The next day the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem.


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So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!"


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At first his disciples didn't understand these things. However, when Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that people had done these things to him.


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So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify to what they had seen.


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Then the Pharisees told one another, "You see, there is nothing you can do. Look, the world has gone after him!"


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They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."


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Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces a lot of grain.


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The one who loves his life will destroy it, and the one who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.


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If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."


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"Now my soul is in turmoil, and what should I say-'Father, save me from this hour'? No! It was for this very reason that I came to this hour.


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Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!"


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The crowd standing there heard this and said that it was thunder. Others were saying, "An angel has spoken to him."


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Now is the time for the judgment of this world to begin. Now will the ruler of this world be thrown out.


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Then the crowd answered him, "We have learned from the Law that the Messiah remains forever. So how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"


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Jesus replied to the crowd, "The light is among you only for a short time. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. The person who walks in the darkness is in the darkness and does not know where he is going.


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As long as you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light." After Jesus had said this, he went away and hid from them.


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so that what the prophet Isaiah spoke might be fulfilled when he said: "Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the Lord's power been revealed?"


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"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not perceive with their eyes, and understand with their mind and turn, and I would heal them."


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Yet many people, even some of the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not admit it so they would not be thrown out of the synagogue.


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Then Jesus said loudly, "The one who believes in me does not believe in me only, but also in the one who sent me.


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I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in the darkness.


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If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not condemn him, because I did not come to condemn the world but to save it.


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The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has something to judge him: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day,


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because I have not spoken on my own authority. Instead, the Father who sent me has himself commanded me what to say and how to speak.


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And I know that what he commands brings eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me."


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Now before the Passover Festival, Jesus realized that his hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.


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By supper time, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him.


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Because Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his control, that he had come from God, and that he was returning to God,


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therefore he got up from the table, removed his outer robe, and took a towel and fastened it around his waist.


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Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to dry them with the towel that was tied around his waist.


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Peter told him, "You must never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "Unless I wash you, you cannot be involved with me."


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Jesus told him, "Whoever has bathed is entirely clean. He doesn't need to wash himself further, except for his feet. And you men are clean, though not all of you."


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When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer robe, he sat down again and told them, "Do you realize what I have done to you?


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Truly, I say to you with certainty, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.


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I'm not talking about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But the Scripture must be fulfilled: 'The one who ate bread with me has turned against me.'


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I'm telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM.


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Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the one who receives whomever I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me."


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After saying this, Jesus was deeply troubled in spirit and declared solemnly, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, one of you is going to betray me!"


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Jesus answered, "He is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish."Then he took a piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.


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After he had taken the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus told him, "Do quickly what you are going to do!"


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Some thought that, since Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the destitute.


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After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, "The Son of Man is now glorified, and God has been glorified by him.


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If God has been glorified by him, God himself also will glorify the Son of Man, and he will do so quickly.


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Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, but what I told the Jews I now tell you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'


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I am giving you a new commandment to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.


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Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "I am going where you cannot follow me now, though you will follow me later on."


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Jesus answered him, "Would you lay down your life for me? Truly, I tell you with certainty, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times."


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There are many rooms in my Father's house. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going away to prepare a place for you?


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And if I am going away to prepare a place for you, I will come back again and welcome you into my presence, so that you may be where I am.


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Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.


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"Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?" Jesus asked him. "The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?


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You believe, don't you, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own. It is the Father who dwells in me and who carries out his work.


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Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe me because of what I've been doing.


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"Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the one who believes in me will also do what I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.


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He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in you.


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"In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.


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The person who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and reveal myself to him."


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Judas (not Iscariot) asked him, "Lord, how is it that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?"


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Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. Then my Father will love him, and we will go to him and make our home within him.


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The one who does not love me does not keep my words. The words that you're hearing me say are not mine, but come from the Father who sent me.


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But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.


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I am leaving you at peace. I am giving you my own peace. I am not giving it to you as the world gives. So don't let your hearts be troubled, and don't be afraid.


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You have heard me tell you, 'I am going away, but I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.


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I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me.


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But I am doing what the Father has commanded me to let the world know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us leave this place."


text:
He cuts off every branch that does not produce fruit in me, and he cuts back every branch that does produce fruit, so that it might produce more fruit.


text:
"Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.


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I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who abides in me while I abide in him produces much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.


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Unless a person abides in me, he is thrown away like a pruned branch and dries up. People gather such branches, throw them into a fire, and they are burned up.


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"If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask for anything you want, and you will receive it.


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This is how my Father is glorified, when you produce a lot of fruit and so prove to be my disciples.


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If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.


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I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.


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"You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.


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If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But because you do not belong to the world and I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.


text:
Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.


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They will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.


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"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.


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If I had not done among them the actions that no one else did, they would not have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.


text:
But this happened so that what has been written in their Law might be fulfilled: 'They hated me for no reason.'


text:
"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.


text:
You will be thrown out of the synagogues. Yes, a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is serving God.


text:
But I have told you this so that when the time comes you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you this in the beginning, because I was still with you."


text:
However, I am telling you the truth. It is for your advantage that I am going away, because if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.


text:
Yet when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own accord, but will speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come.


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All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said, 'He will take what is mine and declare it to you.'


text:
At this point, some of his disciples asked each other, "What does he mean by telling us, 'In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again,' and 'because I am going to the Father'?"


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They kept saying, "What is this 'in a little while' that he keeps talking about? We don't know what he means."


text:
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him a question, so he asked them, "Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again'?


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Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, you will cry and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will be deeply distressed, but your pain will turn into joy.


text:
When a woman is in labor she has pain, because her time has come. Yet when she has given birth to her child, she doesn't remember the agony anymore because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.


text:
Now you are having pain. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.


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On that day, you will not ask me for anything. Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, whatever you ask the Father for in my name, he will give it to you.


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So far you haven't asked for anything in my name. Keep asking and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete."


text:
"I have said these things to you in figurative language. The time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly about the Father.


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At that time, you will make your requests in my name, so that I will have no need to ask the Father on your behalf,


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because the Father himself loves you, and because you have loved me and believed that I came from God.


text:
I left the Father and came into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."


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Now we know that you know everything and do not need to have anyone ask you any questions. Because of this, we believe that you have come from God."


text:
Listen, the time is coming, indeed it has already come, when you will be scattered, each of you to his own home, and you will leave me all by myself. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.


text:
I have told you this so that through me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble, but be courageous-I have overcome the world!"


text:
After Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you.


text:
For you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.


text:
And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent-Jesus the Messiah.


text:
"So now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.


text:
I have made your name known to these men whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.


text:
because the words that you gave me I passed on to them. They have received them and know for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.


text:
"I am asking on their behalf. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you gave me, because they are yours.


text:
I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name, the name that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one.


text:
While I was with them, I protected them by the authority that you gave me. I guarded them, and not one of them became lost except the one who was destined for destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.


text:
"And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.


text:
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.


text:
I ask not only on behalf of these men, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their message,


text:
so that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.


text:
I am in them, and you are in me. May they be completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me and that you have loved them as you loved me.


text:
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world.


text:
"Righteous Father, the world has never known you. Yet I have known you, and these men have known that you sent me.


text:
I made your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them."


text:
After Jesus had said this, he went with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.


text:
So Judas took a detachment of soldiers and some officers from the high priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.


text:
Then Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen, went forward and asked them, "Who are you looking for?"


text:
They answered him, "Jesus from Nazareth." Jesus told them, "I AM." Judas, the man who betrayed him, was standing with them.


text:
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.


text:
Jesus told Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath. Shouldn't I drink the cup that the Father has given me?"


text:
Then the soldiers, along with their commander and the Jewish officers, arrested Jesus and tied him up.


text:
First they brought him to Annas, because he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.


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Caiaphas was the person who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one man die for the people.


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Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Since the other disciple was known to the high priest, he accompanied Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.


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Peter, however, stood outside the gate. So this other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter inside.


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The young woman at the gate asked Peter, "You aren't one of this man's disciples, too, are you?" "I am not," he replied.


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Meanwhile, the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had built and were warming themselves because it was cold. Peter was also standing with them, keeping himself warm.


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Jesus answered him, "I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogue or in the Temple, where all Jews meet together, and I have said nothing in secret.


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Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I said. These are the people who know what I said."


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When he said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Jesus on the face and demanded, "Is that any way to answer the high priest?"


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Jesus answered him, "If I have said anything wrong, tell me what it was. But if I have told the truth, why do you hit me?"


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Meanwhile, Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. Some people asked him, "You aren't one of his disciples, too, are you?" He denied it by saying, "I am not!"


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Then one of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "I saw you in the garden with Jesus, didn't I?"


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Then Jesus was led from Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters early in the morning. The Jews did not go into the headquarters, to avoid becoming unclean and unable to eat the Passover meal.


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Pilate told them, "You take him and try him according to your Law." The Jews told him, "It is not legal for us to put anyone to death."


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So Pilate went back into the governor's headquarters, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"


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Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? It is your own nation and high priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?"


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Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my servants would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But for now my kingdom is not from here."


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Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. I was born for this, and I came into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is committed to the truth listens to my voice."


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Pilate asked him, "What is 'truth'?" After he said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no basis for a charge against him.


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But you have a custom that I release one person for you at Passover. Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?"


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The soldiers twisted some thorns into a victor's crown, put it on his head, and threw a purple robe on him.


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They kept coming up to him and saying, "Long live the king of the Jews!" Then they began to slap him on the face.


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Pilate went outside again and told the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him."


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Then Jesus came outside, wearing the victor's crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate told them, "Here is the man!"


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When the high priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate told them, "You take him and crucify him. I find no basis for a charge against him."


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The Jews 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."


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So Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to speak to me? You realize, don't you, that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?"


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Jesus answered him, "You have no authority over me at all, except what was given to you from above. That's why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."


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From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you release this fellow, you're not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!"


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When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called The Pavement, which in Hebrew is called Gabbatha.


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Then they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Should I crucify your king?" The high priests responded, "We have no king but Caesar!"


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Carrying the cross all by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.


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Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews."


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Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.


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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.'"


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When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, and took his cloak as well. The cloak was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down.


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So they told each other, "Let's not tear it. Instead, let's throw dice to see who gets it." This was to fulfill the Scripture that says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they threw dice." So that is what the soldiers did.


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Meanwhile, standing near Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.


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When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he kept loving standing there, he told his mother, "Dear lady, here is your son."


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Then he told the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.


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After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), "I'm thirsty."


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A jar of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.


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After Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.


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Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jews did not want to leave the bodies on the crosses during the Sabbath, because that was a particularly important Sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the men's legs broken and the bodies removed.


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So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with him.


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Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately came out.


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The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you, too, may believe,


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because these things happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "None of his bones will be broken."


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Later on, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, and he came and removed his body.


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Nicodemus, the man who had first come to Jesus at night, also arrived, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about a hundred pounds.


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They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths along with spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.


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A garden was located in the place where he was crucified, and in that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed.


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On the first day of the week, early in the morning and while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and noticed that the stone had been removed from the tomb.


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So she ran off and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus kept loving. She told them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"


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The two of them were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first.


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At this point Simon Peter arrived, following him, and went straight into the tomb. He observed that the linen cloths were lying there,


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and that the handkerchief that had been on Jesus' head was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in a separate place.


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Meanwhile, Mary stood crying outside the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked into the tomb.


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She saw two angels in white clothes who were sitting down, one at the head and the other at the foot of the place where Jesus' body had been lying.


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They asked her, "Lady, why are you crying?" She told them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have put him."


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After she had said this, she turned around and noticed Jesus standing there, without realizing that it was Jesus.


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Jesus asked her, "Dear lady, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she told him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away."


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Jesus told her, "Mary!" She turned around and told him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means "Teacher").


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Jesus told her, "Don't hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"


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So Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord!" She also told them what he had told her.


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It was the evening of the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked because they were afraid of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He told them, "Peace be with you."


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After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord the disciples were overjoyed.


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So the other disciples kept telling him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he told them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into them, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe!"


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A week later his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you."


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Then he told Thomas, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, but believe."


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Jesus told him, "Is it because you have seen me that you have believed? How blessed are those who have never seen me and yet have believed!"


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Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book.


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But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that through believing you may have life in his name.


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Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is what happened:


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Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two of his other disciples were together.


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Simon Peter told them, "I'm going fishing." They all told him, "We'll go with you, too." So they went out and got into the boat but didn't catch a thing that night.


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He told them, "Throw the net on the right hand side of the boat, and you'll catch some." So they threw it out and were unable to haul it in because it was so full of fish.


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That disciple whom Jesus kept loving told Peter, "It's the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes back on, because he was practically naked, and jumped into the sea.


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But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were only about a hundred yards away from the shore.


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So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish-153 of them. And although there were so many of them, the net was not torn.


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Then Jesus told them, "Come, have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?", because they knew it was the Lord.


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This was now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he had been raised from the dead.


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When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"Peter told him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."Jesus told him, "Feed my lambs."


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Then he asked him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"Peter told him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."Jesus told him, "Take care of my sheep."


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He asked him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"Peter was deeply hurt that he had asked him a third time, "Do you love me?" So he told him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you!" Jesus told him, "Feed my sheep.


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"Truly, I tell you with certainty, when you were young, you would fasten your belt and go wherever you liked. But when you get old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten your belt and take you where you don't want to go."


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Now he said this to show by what kind of death he would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus told him, "Keep following me."


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Peter turned around and noticed the disciple whom Jesus kept loving following them. He was the one who had put his head on Jesus' chest at the supper and had asked, "Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?"


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Jesus told him, "If it is my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you? You must keep following me!"


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So the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple wasn't going to die. Yet Jesus didn't say to Peter that he wasn't going to die, but, "If it is my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you?"


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This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them down. We know that his testimony is true.


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Of course, Jesus also did many other things, and I suppose that if every one of them were written down the world couldn't contain the books that would be written.


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up to the day when he was taken up to heaven after giving orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.


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After he had suffered, he had shown himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during a period of 40 days and telling them about the kingdom of God.


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While he was meeting with them, he ordered them, "Don't leave Jerusalem. Instead, wait for what the Father has promised, about which you heard me speak.


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Now those who had gathered together began to ask Jesus, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?"


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He answered them, "It is not for you to know what times or periods the Father has fixed by his own authority.


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But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."


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After saying this, Jesus was taken up while those who had gathered together were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.


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While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, two men in white robes stood right beside them.


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They asked, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go up into heaven."


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Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.


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When they came into the city, these men went to the upstairs room where they had been staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.


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With one mind all of them kept devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.


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"Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the voice of David about Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus,


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(Now this man bought a field with the money he got for his crime. Falling on his face, he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out.


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This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that this field is called in their language Hakeldama, that is, "The Field of Blood".)


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"For in the Book of Psalms it is written, 'Let his estate be desolate, and let no one live on it,' and 'Let someone else take over his office,'


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beginning when he was baptized by John until the day he was taken up from us. Therefore, someone like this must become a witness with us to his resurrection."


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Then they prayed, "Lord, you know the hearts of all people. Show us which one of these two men you have chosen


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So they drew lots for them, and when the lot fell on Matthias, he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.


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Suddenly, a sound like the roar of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.


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All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them that ability.


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When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language.


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Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome,


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All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, "What can this mean?"


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Then Peter stood up among the eleven apostles and raised his voice to address them: "Men of Judea and everyone living in Jerusalem! You must understand something, so pay close attention to my words.


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'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.


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In those days I will even pour out my Spirit on my slaves, men and women alike, and they will prophesy.


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I will display wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.


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The sun will become dark, and the moon turn to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.


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"Fellow Israelis, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a man authenticated to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed through him among you, as you yourselves know.


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After he was arrested according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified this very man and killed him by the hands of lawless men.


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But God raised him up and put an end to suffering of death, since it was impossible for him to be held by it.


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For David says about him, 'I always keep my eyes on the Lord, for he is at my right hand so that I cannot be shaken.


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That is why my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, yes, even my body still rests securely in hope.


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"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and that his tomb is among us to this day.


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Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him with an oath to put one of his descendants on his throne,


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he looked ahead and spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah: 'He was not abandoned to Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.'


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He has been exalted to the right hand of God, has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has caused you to experience what you are seeing and hearing.


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"Therefore, let all the people of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!"


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When the crowd that had gathered heard this, they were pierced to the heart. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"


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Peter answered them, "Every one of you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.


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For this promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are distant, whom the Lord our God may call to himself."


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Using many different expressions, Peter continued to testify and to plead with them, saying, "Be saved from this corrupt generation!"


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So those who welcomed his message were baptized. That day about 3,000 people were added to their number.


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The believers continued to devote themselves to what the apostles were teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to times of prayer.


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They made it their practice to sell their possessions and goods and to distribute the proceeds to anyone who was in need.


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United in purpose, they went to the Temple every day, ate at each other's homes, and shared their food with glad and humble hearts.


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They were praising God and enjoying the good will of all the people. Every day the Lord was adding to their number those who were being saved.


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Now a man who had been crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day people would lay him at what was called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from those who were going into the Temple.


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When he saw that Peter and John were about to go into the Temple, he asked them to give him something.


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However, Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold, but I'll give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth, walk!"


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Then Peter took hold of his right hand and began to help him up. Immediately his feet and ankles became strong,


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and he sprang to his feet, stood up, and began to walk. Then he went with them into the Temple, walking, jumping, and praising God.


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they knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.


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While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people came running to them in what was called "Solomon's Colonnade". They were dumbfounded.


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When Peter saw this, he told the people: "Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk?


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The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-the God of our ancestors-has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and rejected in the presence of Pilate, even though he had decided to let him go.


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It is his name-that is, by faith in his name-that has healed this man whom you see and know. Yes, the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.


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This is how God fulfilled what he had predicted through the voice of all the prophets-that his Messiah would suffer.


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so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and so that he may send you Jesus, whom he appointed long ago to be the Messiah.


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He must remain in heaven until the time of universal restitution, which God announced long ago through the voice of his holy prophets.


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In fact, Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you.


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"Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who followed him, also announced these days.


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You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he told Abraham, 'Through your descendant all the families of the earth will be blessed.'


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When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways."


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While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the commander of the Temple guards, and the Sadducees came to them.


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They were greatly disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people and announcing that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead.


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They made Peter and John stand in front of them and began asking, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"


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If we are being questioned today for a good deed done for someone who was sick or to learn how this man was healed,


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you and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus from Nazareth, whom you crucified but God raised from the dead.


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There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved."


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Now when the Jewish leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and found out that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and realized that they had been with Jesus.


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They said, "What should we do with these men? For it's obvious to everybody living in Jerusalem that an unmistakable sign has been done by them, and we cannot deny it.


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But to keep it from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them never again to speak to anyone in this name."


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So they called Peter and John back in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.


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But Peter and John answered them, "You must decide whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God,


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So they threatened Peter and John even more and then let them go. They couldn't find any way to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.


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After they were released, Peter and John went to their fellow believers and told them everything the high priests and the elders had said.


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When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, "Master, you made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.


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You said by the Holy Spirit through the voice of our ancestor, your servant David, 'Why do the gentiles rage, and the people devise useless plots?


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The kings of the earth take their stand, and rulers meet together against the Lord and against his Messiah.'


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For in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate actually met together with the gentiles and the people of Israel to oppose your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,


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as you stretch out your hand to heal and to perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."


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When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak messages from God boldly.


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Now all the believers were one in heart and soul, and nobody called any of his possessions his own. Instead, they shared everything they owned.


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With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was on them all.


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For none of them needed anything, because everyone who had land or houses would sell them and bring the money received for the things sold


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One man, Joseph, a descendant of Levi and a native of Cyprus, who was named Barnabas by the apostles (the name means "a son of encouragement"),


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With his wife's full knowledge he kept back some of the money for himself and brought the remainder and laid it at the apostles' feet.


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Peter asked, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the money you got for the land?


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As long as it remained unsold, wasn't it your own? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? So how could you have thought of doing what you did? You didn't lie only to men, but also to God!"


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When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized everyone who heard about it.


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So Peter asked her, "Tell me, did you sell the land for that price?" She answered, "Yes, that was the price."


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"How could you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?" Peter asked her. "Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and these men will carry you outside as well."


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She instantly fell down at Peter's feet and died. When the young men came in, they found her dead. So they carried her out and buried her next to her husband.


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Now many signs and wonders were being performed by the apostles among the people, who were gathered together in Solomon's Colonnade.


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None of the others dared join them, although the rest of the people continued to hold them in high regard.


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As a result, people kept carrying their sick into the streets and placing them on stretchers and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he went by.


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Even from the towns around Jerusalem crowds continued coming in to bring their sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.


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Then the high priest and all those from the sect of the Sadducees who were with him were filled with jealousy. So they went out,


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"Go, stand in the Temple, and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life they can have."


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After the apostles heard this, they went into the Temple at daybreak and began to teach. The high priest and those who were with him arrived, called the Council and all the elders of Israel together, and sent word to the prison to have the men brought in.


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When the Temple police got there, they did not find them in the prison. They came back and reported,


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"We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside."


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When the commander of the Temple guards and the high priests heard these words, they were utterly at a loss as to what could have happened to them.


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Then someone came and told them, "Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the Temple and teaching the people!"


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So the commander of the Temple guards went with his men to bring them back without force, because they were afraid of being stoned to death by the people.


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When they brought them back, they made them stand before the Council, and the high priest began to question them.


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He said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name, didn't we? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to bring this man's blood on us!"


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God has exalted to his right hand this very man as our Leader and Savior in order to extend repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.


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We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep on obeying him."


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But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while.


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For in the recent past Theudas appeared, claiming that he was important, and about 400 men joined him. He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed and disappeared.


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After that man, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and got people to follow him. He, too, died, and all his followers were scattered.


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"I'm telling you to keep away from these men for now. Leave them alone, because if this plan or movement is of human origin, it will fail.


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However, if it is from God, you won't be able to stop them, and you may even discover that you are fighting against God!" So they were convinced by him.


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After calling in the apostles and beating them, they again ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus and let them go.


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They left the Council, rejoicing to have been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the Name.


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Every day in the Temple and from house to house they kept teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.


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In those days, as the number of the disciples was growing larger and larger, a complaint was made by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.


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So the Twelve called the whole group of disciples together and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect messages from God in order to wait on tables.


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Therefore, brothers, appoint seven men among you who have a good reputation, who are full of the Spirit and wisdom, and we will put them in charge of this work.


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This suggestion pleased the whole group. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch.


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So the word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem continued to grow rapidly. Even a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.


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But some men who belonged to the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), as well as some Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and began to debate with Stephen.


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So they secretly got some men to say, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God."


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They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes. Then they rushed at Stephen, grabbed him, and brought him before the Council.


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They had false witnesses stand up and say, "This man never stops saying things against this Holy Place and against the Law.


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For we have heard him say that this Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us."


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Then everyone who was seated in the Council glared at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.


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Stephen replied: "Listen, brothers and fathers! "The glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.


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So he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. Then after the death of his father, God had him move to this country where you now live.


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God gave him no property here, not even a foot of land, yet he promised to give it to him and to his descendants after him as a permanent possession, even though he had no child.


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"This is what God promised: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and its people would enslave them and oppress them for 400 years.


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'But I will punish the nation they serve,' said God, 'and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.'


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Later, God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. Later, he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. Then Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered the twelve patriarchs.


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"Joseph's brothers became jealous of him and sold Joseph as a slave in Egypt. However, God was with him


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and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler of Egypt and of his whole household.


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"But a famine spread throughout Egypt and Canaan, and with it great suffering, and our ancestors couldn't find any food.


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On their second trip, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph introduced his family to Pharaoh.


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Then Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him in Egypt-75 persons in all.


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They were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought at a high price from Hamor's descendants in Shechem.


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"Now as the time approached for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people's population increased a great deal in Egypt.


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By shrewdly scheming against our people, he oppressed our ancestors and forced them to abandon their infants to the elements, so that they wouldn't live.


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"At this time Moses was born. He was beautiful in the sight of God, and for three months he was cared for in his father's house.


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So Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a great man, both in words and in deeds.


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When he saw one of them being mistreated, he defended him and avenged the man who was being mistreated by killing the Egyptian.


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He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn't understand.


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The next day he presented himself to some of them while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them. He said, 'Men, you are brothers. Why should you be hurting another?'


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"But the man who was harming his neighbor pushed Moses away and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us?


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"After 40 years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.


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When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached the bush to look at it, the voice of the Lord said,


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'I am the God of your ancestors-the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses became terrified and didn't dare to look.


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Then the Lord told him, 'Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.


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I have surely seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to rescue them. Now come, I will send you to Egypt.'


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"This same Moses-whom they rejected by saying 'Who made you ruler and judge?'-was the man whom God sent to be both their ruler and deliverer with the help of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.


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It was he who led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for 40 years.


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It was this Moses who told the Israelis, 'God will raise up a prophet for you from among your own brothers, just as he did me.'


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This Moses is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and to our ancestors. He received living truths to give to us,


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They told Aaron, 'Make gods for us who will lead us. This Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt-we don't know what happened to him!'


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"At that time they even made a calf to be their idol, offered a sacrifice to it, and delighted in what they had made with their hands.


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So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the heavenly bodies. As it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'O house of Israel, you didn't offer me slaughtered animals and sacrifices those 40 years in the wilderness, did you?


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You even took along the tent of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, and the images you made in order to worship them. So I will take you into exile as far as Babylon.'


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"Our ancestors had the Tent of Testimony in the wilderness constructed, just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.


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Our ancestors brought it here with Joshua when they replaced the nations that God drove out in front of our ancestors, and it was here until the time of David.


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"'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house can you build for me,' declares the Lord, "or what place is there in which I can rest?


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"You stubborn people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.


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Which of the prophets did your ancestors fail to persecute? They killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers.


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While they were listening to these things, they became more and more furious and began to grind their teeth at him.


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But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.


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ran him outside of the city, and began to stone him to death. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.


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Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them!" After he had said this, he died.


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Now Saul heartily approved of putting Stephen to death. That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except for the apostles was scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.


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But Saul kept trying to destroy the church. Going into one house after another, he began dragging off men and women and throwing them in prison.


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The crowds, hearing his message and seeing the signs that he was doing, paid close attention to what was said by Philip.


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Unclean spirits screamed with a loud voice as they came out of the many people they had possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed.


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Now in that city there was a man named Simon. He was practicing occult arts and thrilling the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.


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Everyone from the least to the greatest paid close attention to him, saying, "This is what we call the great power of God!"


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They paid careful attention to him because he had thrilled them for a long time with his occult performances.


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But when Philip proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and about the name of Jesus the Messiah, men and women believed and were baptized.


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Even Simon believed, and after he was baptized he became devoted to Philip. He was amazed to see the signs and great miracles that were happening.


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Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.


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Before this he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.


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Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money


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and said, "Give me this power too, so that when I lay my hands on someone, he will receive the Holy Spirit."


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But Peter told him, "May your money perish with you because you thought you could obtain God's free gift with money!


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So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart's intent may be forgiven you.


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Simon answered, "Both of you pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you have said will happen to me."


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After they had given their testimony and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, continuing to proclaim the good news in many Samaritan villages.


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Now an angel of the Lord told Philip, "Get up and go south on the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a deserted road."


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So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, who was a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her treasures and had come up to Jerusalem to worship.


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So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. Philip asked, "Do you understand what you're reading?"


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The man replied, "How can I unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.


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This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: "Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, and like a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.


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In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his descendants? For his life is taken away from the earth."


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Then Philip began to speak, and, starting from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.


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As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, "Look, there's some water. What keeps me from being baptized?"


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So he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.


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When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing and did not see Philip again.


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But Philip found himself at Azotus. As he was passing through that region, he kept proclaiming the good news in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.


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He asked him for letters to take with him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.


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As Saul traveled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him.


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Meanwhile, the men who were traveling with Saul were standing speechless, for they heard the voice but didn't see anyone.


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When Saul got up off the ground, he couldn't see anything, even though his eyes were open. So his companions took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.


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Now in Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord told him in a vision, "Ananias!"He answered, "Here I am, Lord."


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The Lord told him, "Get up, go to the street called Straight, and in the home of Judas look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. At this very moment he is praying.


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He has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so he would see again."


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But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell how much evil this man has done to your saints in Jerusalem.


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But the Lord told him, "Go, since he is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the gentiles, to their kings, and to the descendants of Israel.


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So Ananias left and went to that house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were traveling, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."


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All at once something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,


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and after eating some food, he felt strong again. For several days he stayed with the disciples in Damascus.


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Everyone who heard him was astonished and said, "This is the man who harassed those who were calling on Jesus' name in Jerusalem, isn't it? Didn't he come here to bring them in chains to the high priests?"


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But Saul grew more and more persuasive, and continued to confound the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this man was the Messiah.


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but his disciples took him one night and let him down through the city wall by lowering him in a basket.


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When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they all were afraid of him because they wouldn't believe he was a disciple.


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Barnabas, however, introduced Saul to the apostles, telling them how on the road Saul had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus in Damascus.


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When the brothers found out about the plot, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.


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So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace. As it continued to be built up and to live in the fear of the Lord, it kept increasing in numbers through the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.


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Now when Peter was going around among all of the disciples, he also visited the saints living in Lydda.


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Peter told him, "Aeneas, Jesus the Messiah is healing you. Get up and put away your mat!" At once he got up,


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In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was known for her good actions and acts of charity that she was always doing.


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Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him and begged him, "Come here quickly!"


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So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him upstairs. All the widows gathered around Peter, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats Dorcas had made while she was still with them.


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Peter made them all go outside. After kneeling down, he prayed, turned to the body, and said, "Tabitha, get up!" She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.


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He extended his hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints, including the widows, and gave her back to them alive.


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Now in Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.


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He was a devout man who feared God, as did everyone in his home. He gave many gifts to the poor among the people and always prayed to God.


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One day about three in the afternoon he had a vision and clearly saw an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, "Cornelius!"


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He stared at the angel in terror and asked, "What is it, Lord?" The angel answered him, "Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have arisen as a reminder to God.


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When the angel who had spoken to him had gone, Cornelius summoned two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of those who served him regularly.


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Around noon the next day, while they were on their way and coming close to the town, Peter went up on the roof to pray.


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He became very hungry and wanted to eat, and while the food was being prepared, he fell into a trance


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and saw heaven open and something like a large linen sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the ground.


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While Peter was still at a loss to know what the vision he had seen could mean, the men sent by Cornelius asked for Simon's house and went to the gate.


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Peter was still thinking about the vision when the Spirit told him, "Look! Three men are looking for you.


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The men replied, "Cornelius, a centurion and an upright and God-fearing man who is respected by the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his home to hear what you have to say."


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So Peter welcomed them as his guests. The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along with him.


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The next day they arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called his relatives and close friends together.


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He told them, "You understand how wrong it is for a Jew to associate or visit with a gentile. But God has shown me that I should stop calling anyone common or unclean,


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Cornelius replied, "Four days ago at this very hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my home. All at once a man in radiant clothes stood in front of me


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so send messengers to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, to come to you. He is a guest in the home of Simon, a leatherworker, by the sea.'


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So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. All of us are here now in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has ordered you to say."


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He has sent his word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus the Messiah. This man is the Lord of everyone.


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God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, he went around doing good and healing everyone who was oppressed by the devil.


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We are witnesses of everything Jesus did in the land of the Jews, including Jerusalem. "They hung him on a tree and killed him,


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not to all the people, but to us who were chosen by God to be witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.


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He also ordered us to preach to the people and to testify solemnly that this is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.


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All the prophets testify to this: everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name."


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While Peter was still making this statement, the Holy Spirit fell on all the people who were listening to his message.


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Then the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the gentiles, too.


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"No one can stop us from using water to baptize these people who have received the Holy Spirit in the same way that we did, can they?"


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So Peter ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah. Then they asked him to stay there for several days.


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Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God.


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"I was in the town of Joppa praying when in a trance I saw a vision: Something like a large linen sheet descended down from heaven, lowered by its four corners, and it came right down to me.


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When I examined it closely, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the air.


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Then the voice from heaven answered a second time, 'You must stop calling common what God has made clean!'


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"At that very moment three men arrived at the house where we were staying. They had been sent to me from Caesarea.


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The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitating. These six brothers went with me, too, and we entered the house of the man from Caesarea.


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Then he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his home and saying, 'Send messengers to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter.


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Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'


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Now if God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who was I to try to stop God?"


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When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God, saying, "So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles."


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Now the people who were scattered by the persecution that started because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.


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But among them were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began proclaiming the Lord Jesus even to the Hellenistic Jews.


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When he arrived, he rejoiced to see what the grace of God had done, and with hearty determination he kept encouraging all of them to remain faithful to the Lord.


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For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And so a large number of people was brought to the Lord.


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When he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.


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One of them named Agabus got up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.


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So all of the disciples decided they would send a contribution to the brothers living in Judea, as they were able,


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When he saw how this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter, too. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.


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When he arrested Peter, Herod put him in prison and turned him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, planning to bring him out to the people after Passover season.


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That very night, before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, and guards in front of the door were watching the prisoners.


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Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on his side, woke him up, and said, "Get up quickly!" His chains fell from his wrists.


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Then the angel told him, "Tuck in your shirt and put on your sandals!" He did this. Then the angel told him, "Put on your coat and follow me!"


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So Peter went out and began to follow him, not realizing that what was being done by the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.


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They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened by itself for them, and they went outside and proceeded one block when the angel suddenly left him.


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Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I'm sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting!"


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When Peter realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a large number of people had gathered and were praying.


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On recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that she didn't open the gate but ran back inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.


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The other people told her, "You're out of your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was so. Then they said, "It's his angel."


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Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking and knocking. When they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed.


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He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, "Tell this to James and the brothers." Then he left and went somewhere else.


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Herod searched for him but didn't find him, so he questioned the guards and ordered them to be executed. Then he left Judea, went down to Caesarea, and stayed there for a while.


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Now Herod had been in a violent quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him as a group. After they had won over Blastus, who oversaw security for the king's sleeping quarters, they asked for a peace agreement because their country depended on the king's country for food.


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Therefore, at a set time Herod put on his royal robes, sat down on the royal seat, and made a speech to them.


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Immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.


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When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission, they returned to Jerusalem, bringing with them John who was also called Mark.


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Now Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen, who grew up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch.


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While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me to do the work for which I called them."


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After they had been sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.


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Arriving in Salamis, they began to preach God's word in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John to help them.


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They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish occult practitioner and false prophet named Bar-jesus.


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He was associated with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.


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But Elymas the occult practitioner (that is the meaning of his name) continued to oppose them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.


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and said, "You are full of every form of deception and trickery, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right! You will never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord, will you?


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The Lord is against you now, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a while!" At that moment a dark mist came over him, and he went around looking for someone to lead him by the hand.


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When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the Lord's teaching.


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Then Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia. But John left them and went back to Jerusalem.


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They left Perga and arrived in Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.


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After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders asked them, "Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you may speak."


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The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with a public display of power he led them out of there.


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he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then God gave their land to the Israelis as an inheritance


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Then God removed Saul and made David their king, about whom he testified, 'I have found that David, the son of Jesse, is a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my wishes.'


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It was from this man's descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus.


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Before Jesus' appearance, John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people in Israel.


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When John was finishing his work, he said, 'Who do you think I am? I am not the Messiah. No, but he is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.'


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"My brothers, descendants of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.


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For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.


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When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb.


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and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people.


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he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, 'You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.'


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God raised him from the dead, never to experience decay, as he said, 'I will give you the holy promises made to David.'


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For David, after he had served God's purpose in his own generation, died and was buried with his ancestors, and so he experienced decay.


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"Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,


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and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses.


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'Look, you mockers! Be amazed and die! For I am performing an action in your days, one that you would not believe even if someone told you!'"


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As Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath.


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When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who kept talking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.


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But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to object to the statements made by Paul and even to abuse him.


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Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, "We had to speak God's word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles.


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For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: 'I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.'"


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When the gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. Meanwhile, all who had been destined to eternal life believed,


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But the Jews stirred up devout women of high social standing and the officials in the city, started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their territory.


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In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.


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But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.


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They stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak boldly for the Lord, who kept affirming his word of grace and granting signs and wonders to be done by them.


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But the people of the city were divided. Some were with the Jews, while others were with the apostles.


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Now when an attempt was made by both gentiles and Jews, along with their authorities, to mistreat and stone them,


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Paul and Barnabas found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding territory.


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Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn't use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked.


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He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed,


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he said in a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" Then the man jumped up and began to walk.


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When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have become like men and have come down to us!"


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The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.


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But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,


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"Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you'll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.


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yet he has not abandoned his witness: he continues to do good, to give you rain from heaven, to give you fruitful seasons, to fill you with food and your hearts with joy."


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Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.


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But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds by persuasion. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking he was dead.


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But the disciples formed a circle around him, and he got up and went back to town. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.


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As they were proclaiming the good news in that city, they discipled a large number of people. Then they went back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,


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strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith, saying, "We must endure many hardships to get into the kingdom of God."


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Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.


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From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had completed.


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When they arrived, they called the church together and told them everything that God had done with them and how he had opened a door so that gentiles would believe.


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Then some men came down from Judea and started to teach the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you can't be saved."


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Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.


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They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers.


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When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done through them.


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But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The gentiles must be circumcised and ordered to keep the Law of Moses."


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After a lengthy debate, Peter stood up and told them, "Brothers, you know that in the early days God chose me to be the one among you through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe.


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God, who knows everyone's heart, showed them he approved by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us.


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So why do you test God by putting on the disciples' neck a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we could carry?


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We certainly believe that it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that we are saved, just as they are."


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The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.


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Simeon has explained how God first showed his concern for the gentiles by taking from among them a people for his name.


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'"After this, I will come back and set up David's fallen tent again. I will restore its ruined places and set it up again


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so that the rest of the people may search for the Lord, including all the gentiles who are called by my name," declares the Lord. 'He is the one who has been doing these things


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Instead, we should write to them to keep away from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from anything strangled, and from blood.


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After all, Moses has had people to proclaim him in every city for generations, and on every Sabbath his books are read aloud in the synagogues."


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Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers.


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They wrote this letter for them to deliver: "From: The apostles and the elders, your brothers To: Their gentile brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings.


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We have heard that some men, coming from us without instructions from us, have said things to trouble you and have unsettled you.


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For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place on you any burden but these essential requirements:


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to keep away from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you avoid these things, you will do well. Goodbye."


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So the men were sent on their way and arrived in Antioch. They gathered the congregation together and delivered the letter.


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After staying there for some time, they were sent back with a greeting from the brothers to those who had sent them.


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Both Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch to teach and proclaim the word of the Lord, as did many others.


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A few days later, Paul told Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they're doing."


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but Paul did not think it was right to take along the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and who had not gone with them into the work.


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Paul also went to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish wife whose husband was a Greek.


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Paul wanted this man to go with him, so he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who lived in that region, because everyone knew that Timothy's father was a Greek.


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As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for them to obey.


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Because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in Asia, Paul and Timothy went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.


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During the night Paul had a vision. A man from Macedonia was standing there and pleading with him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"


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As soon as he had seen the vision, we immediately looked for a way to go to Macedonia, because we were convinced that God had called us to tell the people there the good news.


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and from there to Philippi, an important city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We were in this city for several days.


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On the Sabbath day we went out the city gate and walked along the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and began talking to the women who had gathered there.


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A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple goods, was listening to us. She was a worshiper of God, and the Lord opened her heart to listen carefully to what was being said by Paul.


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When she and her family were baptized, she urged us, "If you are convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she continued to insist that we do so.


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Once, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of fortune-telling and who had brought her owners a great deal of money by predicting the future.


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She would follow Paul and us and shout, "These men are servants of the Most High God and are proclaiming to you a way of salvation!"


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She kept doing this for many days until Paul became annoyed, turned to her and told the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus the Messiah to come out of her!" And it came out that very moment.


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When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the public square.


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They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They are Jews


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The crowd joined in the attack against them. Then the magistrates had Paul and Silas stripped of their clothes and ordered them beaten with rods.


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After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailer to keep them under tight security.


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Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.


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Suddenly, there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken. All the doors immediately flew open, and everyone's chains were unfastened.


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When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.


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At that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds. Then he and his entire family were baptized immediately.


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He brought Paul and Silas upstairs into his house and set food before them. He was thrilled, as was his household, to believe in God.


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The jailer reported these words to Paul, and added, "The magistrates have sent word to release you. So come out now and go in peace."


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But Paul told the guards, "The magistrates have had us beaten publicly without a trial and have thrown us into jail, even though we are Roman citizens. Now are they going to throw us out secretly? Certainly not! Have them come and escort us out."


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The guards reported these words to the magistrates, and they became afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.


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So the magistrates came, apologized to them, and escorted them out. Then they asked them to leave the city.


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Leaving the jail, Paul and Silas went to Lydia's house. They saw the brothers, encouraged them, and then left.


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Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.


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He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah."


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Some of them were persuaded and began to be associated with Paul and Silas, especially a large crowd of devout Greeks and the wives of many prominent men.


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But the Jews became jealous, and they took some contemptible characters who used to hang out in the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason's home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the people.


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When they didn't find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials and shouted, "These fellows who have turned the world upside down have come here, too,


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and Jason has welcomed them as his guests. All of them oppose the emperor's decrees by saying that there is another king-Jesus!"


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That night the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.


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These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so.


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But when the Jews in Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul also in Berea, they went there to upset and incite the crowds.


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The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to Athens and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left.


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While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was deeply disturbed to see the city full of idols.


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So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and other worshipers, as well as every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there.


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Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, "What is this blabbermouth trying to say?" while others said, "He seems to be preaching about foreign gods." This was because Paul was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.


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Then they took him, brought him before the Areopagus, and asked, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is?


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Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their time doing nothing else other than listening to the latest ideas or repeating them.


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So Paul stood up in front of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way.


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For as I was walking around and looking closely at the objects you worship, I even found an altar with this written on it: 'To an unknown god.' So I am telling you about the unknown object you worship.


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The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn't live in shrines made by human hands,


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and he isn't served by people as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.


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From one man he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth, fixing the seasons of the year and the national boundaries within which they live,


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so that they might look for God, somehow reach for him, and find him. Of course, he is never far from any one of us.


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For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: 'For we are his children, too.'


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So if we are God's children, we shouldn't think that the divine being is like gold, silver, or stone, or is an image carved by humans using their own imagination and skill.


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because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead."


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When they heard about a resurrection of the dead, some began joking about it, while others said, "We will hear you again about this."


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Some men joined him and became believers. With them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and some others along with them.


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There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,


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and because they had the same trade he stayed with them. They worked together because they were tentmakers by trade.


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But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.


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But when they began to oppose him and insult him, he shook out his clothes in protest and told them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.


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Then he left that place and went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, who worshiped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue.


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Now Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole family. Many Corinthians who heard Paul also believed and were baptized.


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For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you or harm you, because I have many people in this city."


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So Paul lived there for a year and a half and continued to teach the word of God among the people there.


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While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews gathered together, attacked Paul, and brought him before the judge's seat.


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Paul was about to speak when Gallio admonished the Jews, "If there were some misdemeanor or crime involved, it would be reasonable to put up with you Jews.


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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."


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Then all of them took Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judge's seat. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.


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After staying there for quite a while longer, Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, since he was under a vow.


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When they arrived in Ephesus, he left Priscilla and Aquila there. Then he went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.


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As he told them goodbye, he said, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus.


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When he arrived in Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem, greeted the church there, and then returned to Antioch.


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After spending some time there, he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.


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Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos arrived in Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria, an eloquent man, and well versed in the Scriptures.


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He had been instructed in the Lord's way, and with spiritual fervor he kept speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only about John's baptism.


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He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained God's way to him more accurately.


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When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who, through God's grace, had believed.


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It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul passed through the inland districts and came to Ephesus. He found a few disciples there


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and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered him, "No, we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."


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Then Paul said, "John baptized when they repented, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."


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When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.


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He went into the synagogue and spoke there boldly for three months, holding discussions and persuading those who heard him about the kingdom of God.


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But when some people became stubborn, refused to believe, and slandered the Way in front of the people, Paul left them, taking his disciples away with him, and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.


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This went on for two years, so that all who lived in Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.


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When handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched his skin were taken to the sick, their diseases left them and evil spirits went out of them.


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Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!"


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But the evil spirit told them, "Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?"


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Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them, and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked and bruised.


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When this became known to everyone living in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks alike, they all became terrified, and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be held in high honor.


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Moreover, many people who had practiced occult arts gathered their books and burned them in front of everybody. They estimated their value and found them to have been worth 50,000 silver coins.


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After these things had happened, Paul decided to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have gone there, I must also see Rome."


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Then he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia a while longer.


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By making silver shrines of Artemis, a silversmith named Demetrius provided a large income for skilled workers.


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He called a meeting of these men and others who were engaged in similar trades and said, "Men, you well know that we get a good income from this business.


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You also see and hear that, not only in Ephesus, but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has won over and taken away a large crowd by telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.


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There is a danger not only that our business will lose its reputation but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be brought into disrepute and that she will be robbed of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her."


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The city was filled with confusion, and the people rushed into the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's fellow travelers from Macedonia.


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Even some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends sent him a message urging him not to risk his life in the theater.


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Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, since the crowd was confused, and most of them didn't know why they were meeting.


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Some of the crowd concluded it was because of Alexander, since the Jews had pushed him to the front. So Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people.


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But when they found out that he was a Jew, they all started to shout in unison for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"


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When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven?


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So if Demetrius and his workers have a charge against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They should accuse one another there.


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because we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, and there is no good reason we can give to justify this commotion."


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When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye to them and left to go to Macedonia.


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He went through those regions and encouraged the people with everything he had to say. Then he went to Greece


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and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia.


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He was accompanied by Sopater (the son of Pyrrhus) from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.


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After the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and days later we joined them in Troas and stayed there for seven days.


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On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul began to address the people. Since he intended to leave the next day, he went on speaking until midnight.


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A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in a window, began to sink off into a deep sleep as Paul kept speaking longer and longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.


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But Paul went down, bent over him, took him into his arms, and said, "Stop being alarmed, because he's still alive."


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Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. He talked with them for a long time, until dawn, and then left.


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We proceeded to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we intended to pick up Paul. He had arranged it this way, since he had planned to travel there on foot.


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We sailed from there and on the following day arrived off Chios. The next day we crossed over to Samos and stayed at Trogyllium. The day after that we came to Miletus.


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Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia, as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.


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When they came to him, he told them, "You know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day I set foot in Asia.


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I served the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.


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I never shrank from telling you anything that would help you nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house.


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"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,


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except that in town after town the Holy Spirit assures me that imprisonment and suffering are waiting for me.


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But I don't place any value on my life, if only I can finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.


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"Now I know that none of you among whom I traveled preaching about the kingdom will ever see my face again.


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Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God's church, which he acquired with his own blood.


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Indeed, some of your own men will arise and distort the truth in order to lure the disciples into following them.


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So be alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped tearfully warning each of you.


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"I am now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.


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In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"


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They were especially sorrowful because of what he had said-that they would never see his face again. Then they took him to the ship.


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When we had torn ourselves away from those brothers, we sailed straight to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.


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We came in sight of Cyprus, and leaving it on our left we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre because the ship was to unload its cargo there.


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So we located some disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem,


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but when our time there came to an end, we left and proceeded on our journey. All of them with their wives and children accompanied us out of the city. We knelt on the beach, prayed,


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When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, greeted the brothers there, and stayed with them for one day.


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The next day we left and came to Caesarea. We went to the home of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him.


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He came to us, took Paul's belt, and tied his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the gentiles.'"


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At this Paul replied, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I'm ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!"


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When he could not be persuaded otherwise, we remained silent except to say, "May the Lord's will be done."


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Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us. They took us to the home of Mnason to be his guests. He was from Cyprus and had been an early disciple.


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After greeting them, Paul related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry.


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When they heard about it, they praised God and told him, "You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous for the Law.


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But they have been told about you-that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake the Law of Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.


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Take these men, go through the purification ceremony with them, and pay their expenses to shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you are carefully observing and keeping the Law.


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As for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our decision that they should keep away from food that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything strangled, and from sexual immorality."


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Then Paul took those men and the next day purified himself with them. Then he went into the Temple to announce the time when their days of purification would end and when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them.


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When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul in the Temple, stirred up a large crowd. They grabbed Paul,


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yelling, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place."


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For they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple.


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The whole city was in chaos. The people rushed together, grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the doors were sealed shut.


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The crowd was trying to kill Paul when a report reached the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.


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Immediately the tribune took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.


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Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul, and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul was and what he had done.


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Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune couldn't learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.


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When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent.


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Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, "May I say something to you?" The tribune asked, "Oh, do you speak Greek?


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You're not the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led 4,000 assassins into the desert, are you?"


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Paul replied, "I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. Please let me speak to the people."


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The tribune gave him permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, motioned for the people to be silent. When everyone had quieted down, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language:


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"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city and educated at the feet of Gamaliel in the strict ways of our ancestral Law. I am as zealous for God as all of you are today.


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I persecuted this Way, even executing people, and kept tying up both men and women and putting them in prison,


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as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was going there to tie up those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.


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"But while I was on my way and approaching Damascus about noon, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.


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"I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?'" He told me, 'I am Jesus from Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'


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The men who were with me saw the light but didn't understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.


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"Then I asked, 'What am I to do, Lord?' "The Lord told me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are destined to do.'


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Since I could not see because of the brightness of the light, the men who were with me took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.


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"A certain Ananias, who was a devout man with respect to the Law and who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,


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came to me. He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' At that moment I could see him.


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"Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice,


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What are you waiting for now? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.'


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and saw the Lord saying to me, 'Hurry up and get out of Jerusalem at once, because the people won't accept your testimony about me.'


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"I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I kept imprisoning and beating those who believe in you.


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Even when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there approving it and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.'


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Up to this point they listened to him, but then they began to shout, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He's not fit to go on living!"


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the tribune ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks and told the soldiers to beat and question him in order to find out why the people were yelling at him like this.


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But when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul asked the centurion who was standing there, "Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't been condemned?"


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When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and told him, "What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!"


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Then the tribune replied, "I paid a lot of money for this citizenship of mine." Paul said, "But I was born a citizen."


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Immediately those who were about to examine him stepped back, and the tribune was afraid when he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had tied him up.


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The next day, since the Tribune wanted to find out exactly what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, he released him and ordered the high priests and the entire Council to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.


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Paul looked straight at the Council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty before God up to this very day."


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At this Paul told him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there and judge me according to the Law and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?"


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Paul answered, "I didn't realize, brothers, that he is the high priest. After all, it is written, 'You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.'"


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When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected."


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After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided,


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because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.


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There was a great deal of shouting until some of the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and argued forcefully, "We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"


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The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.


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That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too."


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In the morning, the Jews formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink anything before they had killed Paul.


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They went to the high priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul.


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Now then, you and the Council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to look into his case more carefully, but before he arrives we'll be ready to kill him."


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But the son of Paul's sister heard about the ambush, so he came and got into the barracks and told Paul.


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Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him."


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So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you."


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The tribune took him by the hand, stepped aside to be alone with him, and asked, "What have you got to tell me?"


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He answered, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully.


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Don't believe them, because more than 40 of them are planning to ambush him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink before they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent."


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Then he summoned two centurions and ordered, "Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight, along with 70 mounted soldiers and 200 soldiers with spears.


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This man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I went with the guard and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.


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I wanted to know the exact charge they were making against him, so I had him brought before their Council.


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I found that, although he was charged with questions about their Law, there was no charge against him deserving death or imprisonment.


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Since a plot against the man has been reported to me, I am at once sending him to you and have also ordered his accusers to present their charges against him before you."


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When these men came to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.


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After reading the letter, the governor asked which province Paul was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia,


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he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers arrive." Then he ordered Paul to be kept in custody in Herod's palace.


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Five days later, the high priest Ananias arrived with certain elders and Tertullus, an attorney, and they summarized their case against Paul before the governor.


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When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus opened the prosecution by saying: "Your Excellency Felix, since we are enjoying lasting peace because of you, and since reforms for this nation are being brought about through your foresight,


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But so as not to detain you any further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness.


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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


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By examining him for yourself, you will be able to find out from him everything of which we accuse him."


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When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he replied: "Since I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I am pleased to present my defense.


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They never found me debating with anyone in the Temple or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or throughout the city,


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However, I admit to you that in accordance with the Way, which they call a heresy, I worship the God of our ancestors and believe in everything written in the Law and the Prophets.


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I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish-that there is to be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked.


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They found me in the Temple doing these things just as I had completed the purification ceremony. No crowd or noisy mob was present.


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But some Jews from Asia were there, and they should be here before you to accuse me if they have anything against me.


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unless it is for the one thing I shouted as I stood among them: 'It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.'"


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Felix was rather well informed about the Way, and so he adjourned the trial with the comment, "When Tribune Lysias arrives, I will decide your case."


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He ordered the centurion to guard Paul but to let him have some freedom and not to keep any of his friends from caring for his needs.


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Some days later, Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Jesus the Messiah.


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As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became afraid and said, "For the present you may go. When I get a chance, I will send for you again."


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At the same time he was hoping to receive a bribe from Paul, and so he would send for him frequently to talk with him.


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After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. Since Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison.


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and asking Festus to have Paul brought to Jerusalem as a favor. They were laying an ambush to kill him on the road.


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Festus replied that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself would be going there soon.


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"Therefore," he said, "have your authorities come down with me and present their charges against him there, if there is anything wrong with the man."


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Festus stayed with them no more than eight or ten days and then went down to Caesarea. The next day he sat on the judge's seat and ordered Paul brought in.


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When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and began bringing a number of serious charges against him that they couldn't prove.


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Paul said in his defense, "I have done nothing wrong against the Law of the Jews, or of the Temple, or of the emperor."


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Then Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be tried there before me on these charges?"


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But Paul said, "I am standing before the emperor's judgment seat where I ought to be tried. I haven't done anything wrong to the Jews, as you know very well.


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If I am guilty and have done something that deserves death, I am willing to die. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can hand me over to them as a favor. I appeal to the emperor!"


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Festus talked it over with the council and then answered, "To the emperor you have appealed; to the emperor you will go!"


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Since they were staying there for several days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. He said, "There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix.


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When I went to Jerusalem, the high priests and the Jewish elders informed me about him and asked me to condemn him.


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I answered them that it was not the Roman custom to sentence a man to be punished until the accused met his accusers face to face and had an opportunity to defend himself against the charge.


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"So they came here with me, and the next day without any delay I sat down in the judge's seat and ordered the man to be brought in.


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Instead, they had several arguments with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but whom Paul kept claiming was alive.


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I was puzzled how I should investigate such matters, so I asked if he would like to go to Jerusalem and be tried there for these things.


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But Paul appealed his case and asked to be held in prison until the decision of his Majesty. So I ordered him to be held in custody until I could send him to the emperor."


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The next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived with much fanfare and went into the auditorium along with the tribunes and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.


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Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all you men who are present with us! You see this man about whom the whole Jewish nation petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.


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I find that he has not done anything deserving of death. But since he has appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him.


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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.


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Then Agrippa told Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense.


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"I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, that I can defend myself today against all the accusations of the Jews,


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since you are especially familiar with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen patiently to me.


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All the Jews know how I lived from the earliest days of my youth with my own people and in Jerusalem.


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They have known for a long time, if they would but testify to it, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the standards of our strictest religious party.


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Our twelve tribes, worshiping day and night with intense devotion, hope to attain it. It is because of this hope, O King, that I am accused by the Jews.


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Indeed, I myself thought it my duty to take extreme measures against the name of Jesus from Nazareth.


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That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the high priests and locked many of the saints in prison. And when I cast my vote against them, they were put to death.


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I would even punish them frequently in every synagogue and try to make them blaspheme. Raging furiously against them, I would hunt them down even in distant cities.


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"That is how I happened to be traveling to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests.


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On the road at noon, O King, I saw a light from heaven that was brighter than the sun. It flashed around me and those who were traveling with me.


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"All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice asking me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the cattle prods.'


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But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you to be my servant and witness of what you have seen and of what I will show you.


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You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'


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Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea-and after that the gentiles-to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance.


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I have had help from God to this day, and so I stand here to testify to both the powerful and the lowly alike, stating only what the prophets and Moses said would happen-


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that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and would bring light both to our people and to the gentiles."


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As he continued his defense, Festus shouted, "You're out of your mind, Paul! Too much education is driving you crazy!"


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But Paul said, "I'm not out of my mind, Your Excellency Festus. I'm reporting what is absolutely true.


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Indeed, the king knows about these things, and I can speak to him freely. For I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, since this wasn't done in a corner.


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Paul replied, "Whether quickly or not, I wish to God that not only you but everyone listening to me today would become what I am-except for these chains!"


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As they were leaving, they began to say to each other, "This man hasn't been doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment."


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When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were transferred to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the emperor's division.


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After boarding a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the ports on the coast of Asia, we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.


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The next day we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to visit his friends there and receive any care he needed.


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After putting out from there, we sailed on the sheltered side of Cyprus because the winds were against us.


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We sailed slowly for a number of days and with difficulty arrived off Cnidus. Then, because the wind was against us, we sailed on the sheltered side of Crete off Cape Salome.


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Much time had been lost, and because navigation had become dangerous and the day of fasting had already past, Paul began to warn those on the ship,


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"Men, I see that during this voyage there will be hardship and a heavy loss not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives."


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Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men favored putting out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. It is a Cretian harbor that faces southwest and northwest.


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When a gentle breeze began to blow from the south, they thought they could make it to Phoenix, so they hoisted anchor and began sailing along the shore of Crete.


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As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the ship's lifeboat.


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The ship's crew pulled it up on deck and used ropes to brace the ship. Fearing that they would hit the large sandbank near Libya, they lowered the sail and drifted along.


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The next day, because we were being tossed so violently by the storm, they began to throw the cargo overboard.


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For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were to be seen, and the storm continued to rage until at last all hope of our being saved vanished.


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After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood among his shipmates and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete. You would have avoided this hardship and damage.


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But now I urge you to have courage because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss of the ship.


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and said, 'Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of everyone who is sailing with you.'


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It was the fourteenth night, and we were drifting through the Adriatic Sea when about midnight the sailors suspected that land was near.


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After taking soundings, they found the depth to be twenty fathoms. A little later they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms.


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Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and began praying for daylight to come.


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Meanwhile, the sailors had begun trying to escape from the ship. They lowered the lifeboat into the sea and pretended that they were going to lay out the anchors from the bow.


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Right up to daybreak Paul kept urging all of them to eat something. He said, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, not eating anything.


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So I urge you to eat something, for it will help you survive, since none of you will lose so much as a hair from his head."


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After he said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat.


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After they had eaten all they wanted, they began to lighten the ship by dumping its cargo of wheat into the sea.


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When day came, they didn't recognize the land, but they could see a bay with a beach on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if possible.


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So they cut the anchors free and left them in the sea. At the same time they untied the ropes that held the steering oars, raised the foresail to the wind, and headed for the beach.


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But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow stuck and couldn't be moved, while the stern was broken to pieces by the force of the waves.


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but the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.


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The rest were to follow, some on planks and others on various pieces of the ship. In this way everyone got to shore safely.


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The people who lived there were unusually kind to us. It had started to rain and was cold, so they started a bonfire and invited us to join them around it.


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Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and put it on the fire. A poisonous snake was forced out by the heat and attached itself to Paul's hand.


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When the people who lived there saw the snake hanging from his hand, they told one another, "This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but Justice won't let him live."


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They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.


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The governor of the island, whose name was Publius, owned estates in that part of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us with great hospitality for three days.


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The father of Publius happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, and healed him by placing his hands on him.


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The islanders honored us in many ways, and when we were about to sail again, they supplied us with everything we needed.


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Three months later, we continued our sailing onboard an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. It had the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.


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Then we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. A day later a south wind began to blow, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.


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There we found some brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. After this, we arrived in Rome.


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The brothers there heard about us and came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and felt encouraged.


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Three days later, Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. When they assembled, he told them, "Brothers, although I haven't done anything against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.


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They examined me and wanted to let me go because there was no reason for me to receive the death penalty in my case.


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But the Jews objected and forced me to appeal to the emperor, even though I have no countercharge to bring against my own people.


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That's why I asked to see you and speak with you, since it is for the hope of Israel that I'm wearing this chain."


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The Jewish leaders told him, "We haven't received any letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or mentioned anything bad about you.


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However, we would like to hear from you what you believe, because people are talking against this sect everywhere."


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So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying. From morning until evening he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.


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They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: "The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah!


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He said, 'Go to this people and say, "You will listen and listen but never understand, and you will look and look but never see!


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For this people's minds have become stupid, and their ears can barely hear, and they have shut their eyes so that they may never see with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn and let me heal them."'


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You must understand that this message about God's salvation has been sent to the gentiles, and they will listen."


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He continued to preach about the kingdom of God and to teach boldly and freely about the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.


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and was declared by the resurrection from the dead to be the powerful Son of God according to the spirit of holiness-Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.


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Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about faithful obedience among all the gentiles for the sake of his name.


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To: Everyone in Rome, loved by God and called to be holy. May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!


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First of all, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world.


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For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you


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in my prayers at all times, asking that somehow by God's will I may at last succeed in coming to you.


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I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles.


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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well.


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For in the gospel God's righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith."


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For God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth.


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For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes-his eternal power and divine nature-have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse.


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For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened.


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and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.


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For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another.


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They exchanged God's truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.


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For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural.


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In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.


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Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done.


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They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips,


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slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents,


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Although they know God's just requirement-that those who practice such things deserve to die-they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.


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Therefore, you have no excuse-every one of you who judges. For when you pass judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, practice the very same things.


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So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on those who practice these things and then do them yourself, do you think you will escape God's judgment?


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Or are you unaware of his rich kindness, forbearance, and patience, that it is God's kindness that is leading you to repent?


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But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart you are reserving wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.


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but wrath and fury for those who in their selfish pride refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead.


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There will be suffering and anguish for every human being who practices doing evil, for Jews first and for Greeks as well.


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But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who practices doing good, initially for Jews but also for Greeks as well,


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For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.


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For it is not merely those who hear the Law who are righteous in God's sight. No, it is those who follow the Law, who will be justified.


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For whenever gentiles, who do not possess the Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law.


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They show that what the Law requires is written in their hearts, a fact to which their own consciences testify, and their thoughts will either accuse or excuse them


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on that day when God, through Jesus the Messiah, will judge people's secrets according to my gospel.


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an instructor of ignorant people, and a teacher of infants because you have the full content of knowledge and truth in the Law-


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For circumcision is valuable if you observe the Law, but if you break the Law, your having been circumcised has no more value than if you were uncircumcised.


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So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the Law, his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision, won't it?


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The man who is uncircumcised physically but who keeps the Law will condemn you who break the Law, even though you have the written Law and circumcision.


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For a person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision something just external and physical.


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No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, brought about by the Spirit, not by a written law. That person's praise will come from God, not from people.


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There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the utterances of God.


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What if some of the Jews were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness cannot cancel God's faithfulness, can it?


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Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written, "You are right when you speak, and win your case when you go into court."


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But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God's righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.)


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For if through my falsehood God's truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?


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Or can we say-as some people slander us by claiming that we say-"Let's do evil that good may result"? They deserve to be condemned!


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What, then, does this mean? Are we Jews any better off? Not at all! For we have already accused everyone, both Jews and Greeks, of being under the power of sin.


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All have turned away. They have become completely worthless. No one shows kindness, not even one person!


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Their throats are open graves. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips.


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Now we know that whatever the Law says applies to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.


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Therefore, God will not justify any human being by means of the actions prescribed by the Law, for through the Law comes the full knowledge of sin.


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But now, apart from the Law, God's righteousness is revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets-


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God's righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah-for all who believe. For there is no distinction among people,


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whom God offered as a place where atonement by the Messiah's blood would occur through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past.


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He wanted to demonstrate at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies anyone who has the faithfulness of Jesus.


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What, then, is there to boast about? That has been eliminated. On what principle? On that of actions? No, but on the principle of faith.


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since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised by that same faith.


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For if Abraham was justified by actions, he would have had something to boast about-though not before God.


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For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."


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However, to someone who does not work, but simply believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.


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Likewise, David also speaks of the blessedness of the person whom God regards as righteous apart from actions:


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Now does this blessedness come to the circumcised alone, or also to the uncircumcised? For we say, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness."


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Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised? He had not yet been circumcised, but was uncircumcised.


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Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Therefore, he is the ancestor of all who believe while uncircumcised, in order that righteousness may be credited to them.


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He is also the ancestor of the circumcised-those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.


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For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith.


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For if those who were given the Law are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless,


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Therefore, the promise is based on faith, so that it may be a matter of grace and may be guaranteed for all of Abraham's descendants-not only for those who were given the Law, but also for those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.


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As it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations." Abraham acted in faith when he stood in the presence of God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don't yet exist.


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Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," just as he had been told: "This is how many descendants you will have."


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His faith did not weaken when he thought about his own body (which was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah's inability to have children,


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nor did he doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, his faith became stronger and he gave glory to God,


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but also for us. Our faith will be regarded in the same way, if we believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.


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Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.


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Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace by which we have been established, and we boast because of our hope in God's glory.


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Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.


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For it is rare for anyone to die for a righteous person, though somebody might be brave enough to die for a good person.


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But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that the Messiah died for us while we were still sinners.


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Now that we have been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from wrath through him!


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For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life!


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Not only that, but we also continue to boast about God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah, through whom we have now been reconciled.


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Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned.


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Certainly sin was in the world before the Law was given, but no record of sin is kept when there is no Law.


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Nevertheless, death ruled from the time of Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. He is a foreshadowing of the one who would come.


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But God's free gift is not like Adam's offense. For if many people died as the result of one man's offense, how much more have God's grace and the free gift given through the kindness of one man, Jesus the Messiah, been showered on many people!


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Nor can the free gift be compared to what came through the man who sinned. For the sentence that followed one man's offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift brought justification, even after many offenses.


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For if, through one man, death ruled because of that man's offense, how much more will those who receive such overflowing grace and the gift of righteousness rule in life because of one man, Jesus the Messiah!


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Consequently, just as one offense resulted in condemnation for everyone, so one act of righteousness results in justification and life for everyone.


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For just as through one man's disobedience many people were made sinners, so also through one man's obedience many people will be made righteous.


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Now the Law crept in so that the offense would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased even more,


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so that, just as sin ruled by bringing death, so also grace might rule by bringing justification that results in eternal life through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.


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Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into union with the Messiah Jesus were baptized into his death?


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Therefore, through baptism we were buried with him into his death so that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too may live an entirely new life.


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For if we have become united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.


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We know that our old natures were crucified with him so that our sin-laden bodies might be rendered powerless and we might no longer be slaves to sin.


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for we know that the Messiah, who was raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has mastery over him.


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For when he died, he died once and for all as far as sin is concerned. But now that he is alive, he lives for God.


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In the same way, you too must continually consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah Jesus.


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Stop offering the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have been brought from death to life and the parts of your body as instruments of righteousness to God.


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What, then, does this mean? Should we go on sinning because we are not under Law but under grace? Of course not!


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Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey-either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?


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But thank God that, though you were once slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching with which you were entrusted!


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I am speaking in simple terms because of the frailty of your human nature. Just as you once offered the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater disobedience, so now, in the same way, you must offer the parts of your body as slaves to righteousness that leads to sanctification.


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What benefit did you get from doing those things you are now ashamed of? For those things resulted in death.


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But now that you have been freed from sin and have become God's slaves, the benefit you reap is sanctification, and the result is eternal life.


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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in union with the Messiah Jesus our Lord.


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Don't you realize, brothers-for I am speaking to people who know the Law-that the Law can press its claims over a person only as long as he is alive?


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For a married woman is bound by the Law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband.


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So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man.


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In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah's body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God.


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For while we were living according to our human nature, sinful passions were at work in our bodies by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death.


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But now we have been released from the Law by dying to what enslaved us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit, not under the old writings.


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What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn't have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn't have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, "You must not covet."


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But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead.


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At one time I was alive without any connection to the Law. But when the rule was revealed, sin sprang to life,


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Now, did something good bring me death? Of course not! But in order that sin might be recognized as being sin, it used something good to cause my death, so that through the rule, sin might become more exposed as being sinful than ever before.


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I don't understand what I am doing. For I don't practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate.


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For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out.


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But if I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.


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but I see in my body a different principle waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body.


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Thank God through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature I serve the law of sin.


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For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate,


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so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to human nature but according to the Spirit.


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For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.


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To focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace.


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That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God's Law because it is powerless to do so.


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You, however, are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God's Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to him.


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But if the Messiah is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit is alive due to righteousness.


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And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then the one who raised the Messiah from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you.


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Consequently, brothers, we are not-with respect to human nature, that is-under an obligation to live according to human nature.


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For if you live according to human nature, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you continually put to death the activities of the body, you will live.


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For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!"


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Now if we are children, we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah-if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.


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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.


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because the creation has become subject to futility, though not by anything it did. The one who subjected it did so in the certainty


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that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage in order to share the glorious freedom of God's children.


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For we know that all the rest of creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.


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However, not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit also groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.


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For we were saved with this hope in mind. Now a hope that can be observed is not really hope, for who hopes for what can be seen?


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In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words,


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and the one who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God's will.


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And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.


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For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers.


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And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.


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The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won't he?


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Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.


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Who will separate us from the Messiah's love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death do this?


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As it is written, "For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are thought of as sheep headed for slaughter."


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For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,


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nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.


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I am telling the truth because I belong to the Messiah-I am not lying, and my conscience confirms it by means of the Holy Spirit.


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for I could wish that I myself were condemned and cut off from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my own people,


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who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises.


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To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.


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and not all of Abraham's descendants are his true descendants. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that descendants will be named for you."


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That is, it is not merely the children born through natural descent who were regarded as God's children, but it is the children born through the promise who were regarded as descendants.


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Yet before their children had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's plan of election might continue to operate


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according to his calling and not by actions), Rebecca was told, "The older child will serve the younger one."


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For he says to Moses, "I will be merciful to the person I want to be merciful to, and I will be kind to the person I want to be kind to."


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Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's will or effort, but on God himself, who shows mercy.


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For the Scripture says about Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose, to demonstrate my power through you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."


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On the contrary, who are you-mere man that you are-to talk back to God? Can an object that was molded say to the one who molded it, "Why did you make me like this?"


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A potter has the right to do what he wants to with his clay, doesn't he? He can make something for a special occasion or something for ordinary use from the same lump of clay.


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Now if God wants to demonstrate his wrath and reveal his power, can't he be extremely patient with the objects of his wrath that are made for destruction?


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Can't he also reveal his glorious riches to the objects of his mercy that he has prepared ahead of time for glory-


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As the Scripture says in Hosea, "Those who are not my people I will call my people, and the one who was not loved I will call my loved one.


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In the very place where it was told them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called children of the living God."


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Isaiah also calls out concerning Israel, "Although the descendants of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, only a few will be saved.


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It is just as Isaiah predicted: "If the Lord of the Heavenly Armies had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom and would have been compared to Gomorrah."


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What can we say, then? Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have attained righteousness, a righteousness that comes through faith.


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Why not? Because they did not pursue it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on achievements. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble.


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As it is written, "Look! I am placing a stone in Zion over which people will stumble-a large rock that will make them fall-and the one who believes in him will never be ashamed."


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For I can testify on their behalf that they have a zeal for God, but it is not in keeping with full knowledge.


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For they are ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God while they try to establish their own, and they have not submitted to God's means to attain righteousness.


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For the Messiah is the culmination of the Law as far as righteousness is concerned for everyone who believes.


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For Moses writes about the righteousness that comes from the Law as follows: "The person who obeys these things will find life by them."


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But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will go up to heaven?' (that is, to bring the Messiah down),


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But what does it say? "The message is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart." This is the message about faith that we are proclaiming:


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If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.


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There is no difference between Jew and Greek, because they all have the same Lord, who gives richly to all who call on him.


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How, then, can people call on someone they have not believed? And how can they believe in someone they have not heard about? And how can they hear without someone preaching?


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And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are those who bring the good news!"


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But I ask, "Didn't they hear?" Certainly they did! In fact, "Their voice has gone out into the whole world, and their words to the ends of the earth."


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Again I ask, "Did Israel not understand?" Moses was the first to say, "I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that doesn't understand."


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And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who were not looking for me; I was revealed to those who were not asking for me."


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But about Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and rebellious people."


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So I ask, "God has not rejected his people, has he?" Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.


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God has not rejected his people whom he chose long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel?


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"Lord, they have killed your prophets and demolished your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life."


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But what was the divine reply to him? "I have reserved for myself 7,000 people who have not knelt to worship Baal."


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But if this is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of actions. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.


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What, then, does this mean? It means that Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, but the selected group obtained it while the rest were hardened.


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As it is written, "To this day God has put them into deep sleep. Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear."


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And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a punishment for them.


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And so I ask, "They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?" Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the gentiles to make the Jews jealous.


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Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the gentiles, how much more will their full participation mean!


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For if their rejection results in reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance bring but life from the dead?


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If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.


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Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,


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do not boast about being better than the other branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.


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That's right! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you remain only because of faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid!


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Consider, then, the kindness and severity of God: his severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness toward you-if you continue receiving his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.


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If the Jews do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in.


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After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree!


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For I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith.


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In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.


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As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors.


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For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience,


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so they, too, have now disobeyed. As a result, they may receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you.


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For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.


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O how deep are God's riches, and wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable are his decisions and unexplainable are his ways!


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I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.


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Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is-what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.


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For by the grace given to me I ask every one of you not to think of yourself more highly than you should think, rather to think of yourself with sober judgment on the measure of faith that God has assigned each of you.


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In the same way, even though we are many people, we are one body in the Messiah and individual parts connected to each other.


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We have different gifts based on the grace that was given to us. So if your gift is prophecy, use your gift in proportion to your faith.


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If your gift is serving, devote yourself to serving others. If it is teaching, devote yourself to teaching others.


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If it is encouraging, devote yourself to encouraging others. If it is sharing, share generously. If it is leading, lead enthusiastically. If it is helping, help cheerfully.


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Live in harmony with each other. Do not be arrogant, but associate with humble people. Do not think that you are wiser than you really are.


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Do not pay anyone back evil for evil, but focus your thoughts on what is right in the sight of all people.


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Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord."


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But "if your enemy is hungry, feed him. For if he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will pile burning coals on his head."


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Every person must be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by God's permission. The existing authorities have been established by God,


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so that whoever resists the authorities opposes what God has established, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.


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For the authorities are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you like to live without being afraid of the authorities? Then do what is right, and you will receive their approval.


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For they are God's servants, working for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for it is not without reason that they bear the sword. Indeed, they are God's servants to administer punishment to anyone who does wrong.


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Therefore, it is necessary for you to be acquiescent to the authorities, not only for the sake of God's punishment, but also for the sake of your own conscience.


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This is also why you pay taxes. For rulers are God's servants faithfully devoting themselves to their work.


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Pay everyone whatever you owe them-taxes to whom taxes are due, tolls to whom tolls are due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due.


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Do not owe anyone anything-except to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law.


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For the commandments, "You must not commit adultery; you must not murder; you must not steal; you must not covet," and every other commandment are summed up in this statement: "You must love your neighbor as yourself."


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Love never does anything that is harmful to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the Law.


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This is necessary because you know the times-it's already time for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we became believers.


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The night is almost over, and the day is near. Let's therefore put aside the actions of darkness and put on the armor of light.


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Let's behave decently, as people who live in the light of day. No wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, quarreling, or jealousy!


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Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and do not obey your flesh and its desires.


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The person who eats any kind of food must not ridicule the person who does not eat them, and the person who does not eat certain foods must not criticize the person who eats them, for God has accepted him.


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Who are you to criticize someone else's servant? He stands or falls before his own Lord-and stand he will, because the Lord makes him stand.


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One person decides in favor of one day over another, while another person decides that all days are the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind:


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The one who observes a special day, observes it to honor the Lord. The one who eats, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. And the one who does not eat, refrains from eating to honor the Lord; yet he, too, gives thanks to God.


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If we live, we live to honor the Lord; and if we die, we die to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.


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For this reason the Messiah died and returned to life, so that he might become the Lord of both the dead and the living.


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Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God.


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For it is written, "As certainly as I live, declares the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God."


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Therefore, let's no longer criticize each other. Instead, make up your mind not to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.


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I know-and have been persuaded by the Lord Jesus-that nothing is unclean in and of itself, but it is unclean to a person who thinks it is unclean.


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For if your brother is being hurt by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not destroy the person for whom the Messiah died by what you eat.


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For God's kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.


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Therefore, let's keep on pursuing those things that bring peace and that lead to building up one another.


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Do not destroy God's action for the sake of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make another person stumble because of what you eat.


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The right thing to do is to avoid eating meat, drinking wine, or doing anything else that makes your brother stumble, upset, or weak.


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As for the faith you do have, have it as your own conviction before God. How blessed is the person who has no reason to condemn himself because of what he approves!


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But the person who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act in faith; and anything that is not done in faith is sin.


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Now we who are strong ought to be patient with the weaknesses of those who are not strong and must stop pleasing ourselves.


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For even the Messiah did not please himself. Instead, as it is written, "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."


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For everything that was written long ago was written to instruct us, so that we might have hope through the endurance and encouragement that the Scriptures give us.


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Now may God, the source of endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other as you follow the Messiah Jesus,


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so that with one mind and one voice you might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.


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For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God's truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors,


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so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name."


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And again, Isaiah says, "There will be a Root from Jesse. He will rise up to rule the gentiles, and the gentiles will hope in him."


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Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.


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I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are filled with goodness and full of all the knowledge you need to be able to instruct each other.


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However, on some points I have written to you rather boldly, both as a reminder to you and because of the grace given me by God


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to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.


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For I am bold enough to tell you only about what the Messiah has accomplished through me in bringing gentiles to obedience. By my words and actions,


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by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.


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My one ambition is to proclaim the gospel where the name of the Messiah is not known, so I don't build on someone else's foundation.


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Rather, as it is written, "Those who were never told about him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."


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But now, having no further opportunities in these regions, I want to come to you, as I've desired to do for many years.


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Now that I am on my way to Spain, I hope to see you when I come your way and, after I have enjoyed your company for a while, to be sent on by you.


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because the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.


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Yes, they were eager to do this, and in fact they are obligated to help them, for if the gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to be of service to them in material things.


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So when I have completed this task and have put my seal on this contribution of theirs, I will visit you on my way to Spain.


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Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and by the love that the Spirit produces, to join me in my struggle, earnestly praying to God for me


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that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,


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Welcome her in the Lord as is appropriate for saints, and provide her with anything she may need from you, for she has assisted many people, including me.


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and who risked their necks for my life. I am thankful to them, and so are all the churches among the gentiles.


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Greet also the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first convert to the Messiah in Asia.


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Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who are in prison with me and are prominent among the apostles. They belonged to the Messiah before I did.


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Greet Apelles, who has been approved by the Messiah. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.


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Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has toiled diligently for the Lord.


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Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints who are with them.


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Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and sinful enticements that oppose the teaching you have learned. Stay away from them,


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because such people are not serving the Messiah our Lord, but their own desires. By their smooth talk and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.


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For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.


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The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you!


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Gaius, who is host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.


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Now to the one who is able to strengthen you with my gospel and the message that I preach about Jesus, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago


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but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith-


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From: Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.


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To: God's church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiah Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah-their Lord and ours.


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Therefore, you don't lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiah to be revealed.


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He will keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the Day of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.


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Faithful is the God by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.


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Brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, I urge all of you to be in agreement and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions.


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My brothers, some members of Chloe's family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you.


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This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to the Messiah."


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Is the Messiah divided? Paul wasn't crucified for you, was he? You weren't baptized in Paul's name, were you?


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(Oh yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanas. Beyond that, I'm not sure whether I baptized anyone else.)


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For the Messiah did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so the cross of the Messiah won't be emptied of its power.


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For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved.


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For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject."


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Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn't he?


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For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe through the nonsense of our preaching.


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Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.


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But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed.


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And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something,


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It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.


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When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come and tell you about God's secret with rhetorical language or wisdom.


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My message and my preaching were not accompanied by clever, wise words, but by a display of the Spirit's power,


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However, when we are among mature people, we do speak a message of wisdom, but not the wisdom of this world or of the rulers of this world, who are passing off the scene.


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Instead, we speak about God's wisdom in a hidden secret, which God destined before the world began for our glory.


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None of the rulers of this world understood it, because if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.


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But as it is written, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him."


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But God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.


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Is there anyone who can understand his own thoughts except his own inner spirit? In the same way, no one can know the thoughts of God except God's Spirit.


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Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand the things that were freely given to us by God.


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We don't speak about these things with words taught us by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, as we explain spiritual things to spiritual people.


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A person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the things of God's Spirit, for they are nonsense to him. He can't understand them because they are spiritually evaluated.


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For "Who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can advise him?" However, we have the mind of the Messiah.


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Brothers, I couldn't talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as mere infants in the Messiah.


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I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you weren't ready for it. And you're still not ready!


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That's because you are still worldly. As long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, you are worldly and living by human standards, aren't you?


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For when one person says, "I follow Paul," and another person says, "I follow to Apollos," you're following your own human nature, aren't you?


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Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They're merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task.


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So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is significant, but God, who keeps everything growing, is the one who matters.


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The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own action.


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As an expert builder using the grace that God gave me, I laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it.


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After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that is Jesus the Messiah.


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Whether a person builds on this foundation with gold, silver, expensive stones, wood, hay, or straw,


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the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's action.


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If his work is burned up, he will suffer loss. However, he himself will be saved, but it will be like going through fire.


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If anyone destroys God's sanctuary, God will destroy him, for God's sanctuary is holy. And you are that sanctuary!


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Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in the ways of this world, he must become a fool to become really wise.


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For the wisdom of this world is nonsense in God's sight. For it is written, "He catches the wise with their own trickery,"


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whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, or the future-everything belongs to you,


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It is a very small thing to me that I should be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I don't even evaluate myself.


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Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.


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Brothers, I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what the Scriptures say. Then you will stop boasting about one person at the expense of another.


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For who makes you superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it?


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You already have all you want! You have already become rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you really were kings so that we could be kings with you!


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For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display in last place, like men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle for the world, for angels, and for people to stare at.


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We are fools for the Messiah's sake, but you are wise in the Messiah. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored.


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We wear ourselves out from working with our own hands. When insulted, we bless. When persecuted, we endure.


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When slandered, we answer with kind words. Even now we have become the filth of the world, the scum of the universe.


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You may have 10,000 mentors who work for the Messiah, but not many fathers. For in the Messiah Jesus I became your father through the gospel.


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That's why I sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and dependable son in the Lord and will help you remember how I live for the Messiah Jesus as I teach everywhere in every church.


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But I will come to you soon if it's the Lord's will. Then I'll discover not only what these arrogant people are saying but also what power they have,


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It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, and of a kind that is not found even among the gentiles. A man is actually living with his father's wife!


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And you are being arrogant instead of being filled with grief and seeing to it that the man who did this is removed from among you.


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Even though I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit. I have already passed judgment on the man who did this, as though I were present with you.


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In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together (and I am there in spirit), and the power of our Lord Jesus is there, too,


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turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.


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Your boasting is not good. You know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough, don't you?


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Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you are to be free from yeast. For the Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed.


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So let's keep celebrating the festival, neither with old yeast nor with yeast that is evil and wicked, but with yeast-free bread that is both sincere and true.


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not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, greedy, robbers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.


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But now I am writing to you to stop associating with any so-called brother if he is sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunk, or a robber. You must even stop eating with someone like that.


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After all, is it my business to judge outsiders? You are to judge those who are in the community, aren't you?


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When one of you has a complaint against another, does he dare to take the matter before those who are unrighteous and not before the saints?


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You know that the saints will rule the world, don't you? And if the world is going to be ruled by you, can't you handle insignificant cases?


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So if you have cases dealing with this life, why do you appoint as judges people who have no standing in the church?


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I say this to make you feel ashamed. Has it come to this, that there is not one person among you who is wise enough to settle disagreements between brothers?


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The very fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves is already a defeat for you. Why not rather just accept the wrong? Why not rather be cheated?


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You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don't you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals,


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That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God.


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Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not allow anything to control me.


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Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God will make them both unnecessary. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.


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You know that your bodies belong to the Messiah, don't you? Should I take what belongs to the Messiah and unite them with a prostitute? Certainly not!


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You know that the person who unites himself with a prostitute becomes one body with her, don't you? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."


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Keep on running away from sexual immorality. Any other sin that a person commits is outside his body, but the person who sins sexually sins against his own body.


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You know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God, don't you? You do not belong to yourselves,


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Because sexual immorality is so rampant, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.


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A wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but his wife does.


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Do not withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so just for a set time, in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should come together again so that Satan does not tempt you through your lack of self-control.


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I would like everyone to be unmarried, like I am. However, each person has a special gift from God, one this and another that.


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However, if they cannot control themselves, they should get married, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.


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To married people I give this command (not really I, but the Lord): A wife must not leave her husband.


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But if she does leave him, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. Likewise, a husband must not abandon his wife.


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I (not the Lord) say to the rest of you: If a brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she is willing to live with him, he must not abandon her.


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And if a woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he is willing to live with her, she must not abandon him.


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For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.


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But if the unbelieving partner leaves, let him go. In such cases the brother or sister is not under obligation. God has called you to live in peace.


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Nevertheless, everyone should live the life that the Lord gave him and to which God called him. This is my rule in all the churches.


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Was anyone circumcised when he was called? He should not try to change that. Was anyone uncircumcised when he was called? He should not get circumcised.


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Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but obeying God's commandments is everything.


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Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that bother you. Of course, if you have a chance to become free, take advantage of the opportunity.


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For the slave who has been called to belong to the Lord is the Lord's free person. In the same way, the free person who has been called is the Messiah's slave.


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Now concerning virgins, although I do not have any command from the Lord, I will give you my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.


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Have you become committed to a wife? Stop trying to get released from your commitment. Have you been freed from your commitment to a wife? Stop looking for one.


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But if you do get married, you have not sinned. And if a virgin gets married, she has not sinned. However, these people will experience trouble in this life, and I want to spare you from that.


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This is what I mean, brothers: The time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as though they had none,


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and those who mourn as though they did not mourn, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they did not own a thing,


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and those who use the things in the world as though they were not dependent on them. For the world in its present form is passing away.


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I want you to be free from concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, that is, about how he can please the Lord.


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But a married man is concerned about things of this world, that is, about how he can please his wife,


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and so his attention is divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the affairs of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, that is, about how she can please her husband.


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I'm saying this for your benefit, not to put a noose around your necks, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.


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If a man thinks he is not behaving properly toward his virgin, and if his passion is so strong that he feels he ought to marry her, let him do what he wants; he isn't sinning. Let them get married.


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However, if a man stands firm in his resolve, feels no necessity, and has made up his mind to keep her a virgin, he will be acting appropriately.


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So then the man who marries the virgin acts appropriately, but the man who refrains from marriage does even better.


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A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.


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However, in my opinion she will be happier if she stays as she is. And in saying this, I think that I, too, have God's Spirit.


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Now concerning food offered to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.


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Now concerning eating food offered to idols: We know that no idol is real in this world and that there is only one God.


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For even if there are "gods" in heaven and on earth (as indeed there are many so-called "gods" and "lords"),


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yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom everything came into being and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, through whom everything came into being and through whom we live.


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But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are so accustomed to idolatry that when they eat food that has been offered to an idol, their conscience becomes contaminated because it is weak.


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However, food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat food that has been offered to an idol, and no better off if we do.


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But you must see to it that this right of yours does not become a stumbling block for those who are weak.


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For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you, who know better, eating in an idol's temple, he will be encouraged to eat what has been offered to idols, won't he?


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When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak consciences, you are sinning against the Messiah.


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Therefore, if food that I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from stumbling.


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I am free, am I not? I am an apostle, am I not? I have seen Jesus our Lord, haven't I? You are the result of my work in the Lord, aren't you?


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If I am not an apostle to other people, surely I am one to you, for you are the evidence of my apostolic authority from the Lord.


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We have the right to take a believing wife with us like the other apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas, don't we?


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Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its grapes? Or who takes care of a flock and does not drink any of its milk?


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For in the Law of Moses it is written, "You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." God is not only concerned about oxen, is he?


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Isn't he really speaking for our benefit? Yes, this was written for our benefit, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.


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If others enjoy this right over you, don't we have a stronger claim? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we tolerate everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of the Messiah.


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You know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple and that those who serve at the altar get their share of its offerings, don't you?


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In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who proclaim the gospel should make their living from the gospel.


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But I have not used any of these rights, and I'm not writing this so that they may be applied in my case. I would rather die than let anyone deprive me of my reason for boasting.


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For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn't preach the gospel!


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For if I preach voluntarily, I get a reward, but if I am unwilling to do it, I am still entrusted with that obligation.


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What, then, is my reward? It is to be able to preach the gospel free of charge, and so I never resort to demanding my rights when I'm preaching the gospel.


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Although I am free from everyone's expectations, I have made myself a servant to all of them to win more people.


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To the Jews I became like a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the Law I became like a man under the Law, in order to win those under the Law (although I myself am not under the Law).


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To those who do not have the Law, I became like a man who does not have the Law in order to win those who do not have the Law. However, I am not free from God's Law, but I'm subject to the Messiah's law.


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To the weak I became weak in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some of them.


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You know that in a race all the runners run but only one wins the prize, don't you? You must run in such a way that you may be victorious.


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Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that never fades.


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That is the way I run, with a clear goal in mind. That is the way I fight, not like someone shadow boxing.


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No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified.


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Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the fact that all of our ancestors who left Egypt were under the cloud. They all went through the sea,


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and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was the Messiah.


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Let's stop being idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to play."


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These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down as a warning for us in whom the culmination of the ages has been attained.


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No temptation has overtaken you that is unusual for human beings. But God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. Instead, along with the temptation he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.


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The cup of blessing that we bless is a sign of our sharing in the blood of the Messiah, isn't it? The bread that we break is a sign of our sharing in the body of the Messiah, isn't it?


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Look at the Israelis from a human point of view. Those who eat the sacrifices share in what is on the altar, don't they?


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Am I suggesting that an offering made to idols means anything, or that an idol itself means anything?


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Hardly! What they offer, they offer to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become partners with demons.


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You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot dine with the Lord and dine with demons,


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Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up.


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Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question about it on the grounds of conscience,


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If an unbeliever invites you to his house and you wish to go, eat whatever is set before you, raising no question on the grounds of conscience.


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However, if someone says to you, "This was offered as a sacrifice," don't eat it, both out of consideration for the one who told you and also for the sake of conscience.


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I mean, of course, his conscience, not yours. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else's conscience?


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just as I myself try to please everybody in every way. I don't look out for my own benefit, but rather for the benefit of many people, so that they might be saved.


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I praise you for remembering everything I told you and for holding to the traditions that I passed on to you.


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Now I want you to realize that the Messiah is the head of every man, and man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of the Messiah.


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and every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, which is the same as having her head shaved.


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So if a woman does not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. If it is a disgrace for a woman to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her own head.


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A man should not cover his head, because he exists as God's image and glory. But the woman is man's glory.


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But if anyone wants to argue about this, we do not have any custom like this, nor do any of God's churches.


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Now I am not praising you in giving you the following instructions. When you gather, it is not for the better but for the worse.


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For in the first place, I hear that when you gather as a church there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it.


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For as you eat, each of you rushes to eat his own supper, and one person goes hungry while another gets drunk.


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You have homes in which to eat and drink, don't you? Or do you despise God's church and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!


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For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you-how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread,


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gave thanks for it, and broke it in pieces, saying, "This is my body that is for you. Keep doing this in memory of me."


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He did the same with the cup after the supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink from it, keep doing this in memory of me."


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For as often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.


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Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks from the cup in an unworthy manner will be held responsible for the Lord's body and blood.


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Now, while we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so we won't be condemned along with the world.


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If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather it may not bring judgment on you. And when I come I will give instructions concerning the other matters.


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You know that when you were unbelievers, you were enticed and led astray to worship idols that couldn't even speak.


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For this reason I want you to be aware that no one who is speaking by God's Spirit can say, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.


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To one has been given a message of wisdom by the Spirit; to another the ability to speak with knowledge according to the same Spirit;


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to another miraculous results; to another prophecy; to another the ability to distinguish between spirits; to another various kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.


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For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, form a single body, so it is with the Messiah.


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For by one Spirit all of us-Jews and Greeks, slaves and free-were baptized into one body and were all privileged to drink from one Spirit.


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If the foot says, "Since I'm not a hand, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it?


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And if the ear says, "Since I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it?


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If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?


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and the parts of the body that we think are less honorable are treated with special honor, and we make our less attractive parts more attractive.


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However, our attractive parts don't need this. But God has put the body together and has given special honor to the parts that lack it,


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so that there might be no disharmony in the body, but that its parts should have the same concern for each other.


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If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is praised, every part rejoices with it.


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God has appointed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then those who perform miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who help others, administrators, and those who speak various kinds of languages.


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Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they?


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Not all have the gift of healing, do they? Not all speak in other languages, do they? Not all interpret, do they?


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If I speak in the languages of humans and angels but have no love, I have become a reverberating gong or a clashing cymbal.


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If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing.


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Love is always patient; love is always kind; love is never envious or arrogant with pride. Nor is she conceited,


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and she is never rude; she never thinks just of herself or ever gets annoyed. She never is resentful;


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She bears up under everything; believes the best in all; there is no limit to her hope, and never will she fall.


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Love never fails. Now if there are prophecies, they will be done away with. If there are languages, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away with.


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When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways.


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Now we see only an indistinct image in a mirror, but then we will be face to face. Now what I know is incomplete, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.


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For the person who speaks in another language is not actually speaking to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands him, because he is talking about secrets by the Spirit.


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The person who speaks in another language builds himself up, but the person who prophesies builds up the church.


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Now I wish that all of you could speak in other languages, but especially that you could prophesy. The person who prophesies is more important than the person who speaks in another language, unless he interprets it so that the church may be built up.


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Indeed, brothers, if I come to you speaking in other languages, what good will I be to you unless I speak to you in some revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching?


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In the same way, lifeless instruments like the flute or harp produce sounds. But if there's no difference in the notes, how can a person tell what tune is being played?


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In the same way, unless you speak an intelligible message with your language, how will anyone know what is being said? You'll be talking into the air!


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If I don't know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.


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In the same way, since you're so desirous of spiritual gifts, you must keep on desiring them for the upbuilding of the church.


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What does this mean? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, but I will also sing psalms with my mind.


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Otherwise, if you say a blessing with your spirit, how can an otherwise uneducated person say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you're saying?


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But in church I would rather speak five words with my mind to instruct others than 10,000 words in another language.


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Brothers, stop being childish in your thinking. Be like infants with respect to evil, but think like adults.


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In the Law it is written, "By means of other languages and through the mouths of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me," declares the Lord.


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Other languages, then, are meant to be a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers, while prophecy is meant, not for unbelievers, but for believers.


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Now if the whole church gathers in the same place and everyone is speaking in other languages, when uneducated people or unbelievers come in, they will say that you are out of your mind, won't they?


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But if everyone is prophesying, when an unbeliever or an uneducated person comes in he will be convicted and examined by everything that's happening.


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His secret, inner heart will become known, and so he will bow down to the ground and worship God, declaring, "God is truly among you!"


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What, then, does this mean, brothers? When you gather, everyone has a psalm, teaching, revelation, other language, or interpretation. Everything must be done for upbuilding.


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If anyone speaks in another language, only two or three at the most should do so, one at a time, and somebody must interpret.


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If an interpreter is not present, the speaker should remain silent in the church and speak to himself and God.


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For everyone can prophesy in turn, so that everyone can be instructed and everyone can be encouraged.


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the women must keep silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak out, but must place themselves in submission, as the oral law also says.


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If they want to learn anything, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is inappropriate for a woman to speak out in church.


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If anyone thinks he is a prophet or a spiritual person, he must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.


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Therefore, my brothers, desire the ability to prophesy, and do not prevent others from speaking in other languages.


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Now I'm making known to you, brothers, the gospel that I proclaimed to you, which you accepted, on which you have taken your stand,


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and by which you are also being saved if you hold firmly to the message I proclaimed to you-unless, of course, your faith was worthless.


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For I passed on to you the most important points that I received: The Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures,


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After that, he was seen by more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.


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For I am the least of the apostles and not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God's church.


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But by God's grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others-not I, of course, but God's grace that was with me.


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Now if we preach that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how can some of you keep claiming there is no resurrection of the dead?


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and if the Messiah has not been raised, then our message means nothing and your faith means nothing.


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In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God because we testified on God's behalf that he raised the Messiah-whom he did not raise if in fact it is true that the dead are not raised.


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and if the Messiah has not been raised, your faith is worthless and you are still imprisoned by your sins.


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If we have set our hopes on the Messiah in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.


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But at this moment the Messiah stands risen from the dead, the first one offered in the harvest of those who have died.


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However, this will happen to each person in the proper order: first the Messiah, then those who belong to the Messiah when he comes.


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Then the end will come, when after he has done away with every ruler and every authority and power, the Messiah hands over the kingdom to God the Father.


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for "God has put everything under his feet." Now when he says, "Everything has been put under him," this clearly excludes the one who put everything under him.


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But when everything has been put under him, then the Son himself will also become subject to the one who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.


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Otherwise, what will those people do who are being baptized because of those who have died? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they being baptized because of them?


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I face death every day! That is as certain, brothers, as it is that I am proud of you in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord.


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If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus from merely human motives, what do I get out of it? If the dead are not raised, "Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."


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Come back to your senses as you should, and stop sinning! For some of you-I say this to your shame-don't fully know God.


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But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?"


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and what you plant is not the form that it will be, but a bare kernel, whether it is wheat or something else.


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Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals in general have another, birds have another, and fish have still another.


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There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of those in heaven is of one kind, and that of those on earth is of another.


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One kind of splendor belongs to the sun, another to the moon, and still another to the stars. In fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.


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This is how it will be at the resurrection of the dead. What is planted is decaying, what is raised cannot decay.


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The body is planted in a state of dishonor but is raised in a state of splendor. It is planted in weakness but is raised in power.


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It is planted a physical body but is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.


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This, indeed, is what is written: "The first man, Adam, became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.


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Those who are made of the dust are like the man from the dust; those who are heavenly are like the man who is from heaven.


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Just as we have borne the likeness of the man who was made from dust, we will also bear the likeness of the man from heaven.


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Brothers, this is what I mean: Mortal bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and what decays cannot inherit what does not decay.


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in a moment, faster than an eye can blink, at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will be raised never to decay, and we will be changed.


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For what is decaying must be clothed with what cannot decay, and what is dying must be clothed with what cannot die.


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Now, when what is decaying is clothed with what cannot decay, and what is dying is clothed with what cannot die, then the written word will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up by victory!"


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Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that the work that you do for the Lord isn't wasted.


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Now concerning the collection for the saints, you should follow the directions I gave to the churches in Galatia.


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After the Sabbath ends, each of you should set aside and save something from your surplus in proportion to what you have, so that no collections will have to be made when I arrive.


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and will probably stay with you for a while or even spend the winter with you. Then you can send me on my way, wherever I decide to go.


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I do not want to visit with you now just in passing, because I hope to spend a longer time with you if the Lord permits.


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If Timothy comes, see to it that he does not have anything to be afraid of while he is with you, for he is doing the Lord's work as I am.


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Therefore, no one should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me, because I am expecting him along with the brothers.


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Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but he was not inclined to do so just now. However, he will visit you when the time is right.


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Now I urge you, brothers-for you know that the members of the family of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to serving the saints-


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I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus came here, because what was lacking they have supplied through you.


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The churches in Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca and the church in their house greet you warmly in union with the Lord.


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From: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother. To: God's church in Corinth, and to all the holy people throughout Achaia.


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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! He is our merciful Father and the God of all comfort,


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who comforts us in all our suffering, so that we may be able to comfort others in all their suffering, as we ourselves are being comforted by God.


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For as the Messiah's sufferings overflow into us, so also our comfort overflows through the Messiah.


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If we suffer, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are suffering.


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Our hope for you is unshaken, because we know that as you share our sufferings, you also share our comfort.


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For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about the suffering we experienced in Asia. We were so crushed beyond our ability to endure that we even despaired of living.


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In fact, we felt that we had received a death sentence so we would not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.


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He has rescued us from a terrible death, and he will continue to rescue us. Yes, he is the one on whom we have set our hope, and he will rescue us again,


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as you also help us by your prayers for us. Then many people will thank God on our behalf because of the favor shown us through the prayers of many.


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For this is what we boast about: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with pure motives and godly sincerity, without earthly wisdom but with God's grace-especially toward you.


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For what we are writing you is nothing more than what you can read and also understand. I hope you will understand completely,


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just as you have already understood us partially, so that on the Day of our Lord Jesus we can be your reason to boast, even as you are ours.


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I planned to leave you in order to go to Macedonia, and then come back to you from Macedonia, and let you send me on to Judea.


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When I planned this, I did not do it lightly, did I? Are my plans so fickle that I can say "Yes" and "No" at the same time?


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For God's Son, Jesus the Messiah, who was preached among you by us-by me, Silvanus, and Timothy-was not "Yes" and "No." But with him it is always "Yes."


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Now the one who makes us-and you as well-secure in union with the Messiah and has anointed us is God,


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I call upon God as a witness on my behalf that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.


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It is not that we are trying to rule over your faith, but rather to work with you for your joy, because you have been standing firm in the faith.


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This is the very reason I wrote you, so that when I did come I might not be made sad by those who should have made me happy. For I had confidence that all of you would share the joy that I have.


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I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart-along with many tears-not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.


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But if anyone has caused grief, he didn't cause me any grief. To some extent-I don't want to emphasize this too much-it has affected all of you.


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When you forgive someone, I do, too. Indeed, what I have forgiven-if there was anything to forgive-I did in the presence of the Messiah for your benefit,


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but my spirit could not find any relief, because I couldn't find Titus, my brother. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.


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But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly by the Messiah and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him.


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To God we are the aroma of the Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.


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To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a living fragrance. Who is qualified for this?


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At least we are not commercializing God's word like so many others. Instead, we speak with sincerity in the Messiah's name, like people who are sent from God and are accountable to God.


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Are we beginning to recommend ourselves again? Unlike some people, we do not need letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?


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You are demonstrating that you are the Messiah's letter, produced by our service, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.


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By ourselves we are not qualified to claim that anything comes from us. Rather, our credentials come from God,


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who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, which is not written but spiritual, because the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life.


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Now if the ministry of death that was inscribed in letters of stone came with such glory that the people of Israel could not gaze on Moses' face (because the glory was fading away from it),


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For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, then the ministry of justification has an overwhelming glory.


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For if that which fades away came through glory, how much more does that which is permanent have glory?


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not like Moses, who kept covering his face with a veil to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of what was fading away.


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However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with the Messiah is that veil removed.


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As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are becoming more like him with ever-increasing glory by the Lord's Spirit.


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Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use trickery or pervert God's word. By clear statements of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience before God.


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In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.


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For we do not preach ourselves, but rather Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus' sake.


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For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus the Messiah.


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But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us.


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We are always carrying around the death of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our bodies.


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While we are alive, we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our mortal bodies.


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Now since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with this Scripture: "I believed, and so I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak.


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We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to God together with you.


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All this is for your sake so that, as his grace spreads, more and more people will give thanks and glorify God.


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That's why we are not discouraged. No, even if outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are being renewed each and every day.


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This light, temporary nature of our suffering is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory, far beyond any comparison,


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because we do not look for things that can be seen but for things that cannot be seen. For things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal.


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We know that if the earthly tent we live in is torn down, we have a building in heaven that comes from God, an eternal house not built by human hands.


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So while we are still in this tent, we sigh under our burdens, because we do not want to put it off but to put it on, so that our dying bodies may be swallowed up by life.


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Therefore, we are always confident, and we know that as long as we are at home in this body we are away from the Lord.


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For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, so that each of us may receive what he deserves for what he has done in his body, whether good or worthless.


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Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade people. We ourselves are perfectly known to God. I hope we are also really known to your consciences.


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We are not recommending ourselves to you again but are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who are proud of outward things rather than inward character.


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The love of the Messiah controls us, for we are convinced of this: that one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died.


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He died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them.


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So then, from now on we do not think of anyone from a human point of view. Even if we did think of the Messiah from a human point of view, we don't think of him that way anymore.


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Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and-look!-all things have become new!


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All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through the Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,


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for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us.


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Therefore, we are the Messiah's representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah's behalf: "Be reconciled to God!"


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God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God's righteousness would be produced in us.


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For he says, "At the right time I heard you, and on a day of salvation I helped you." Listen, now is really the "right time"! Now is the "day of salvation"!


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Instead, in every way we demonstrate that we are God's servants by tremendous endurance in the midst of difficulties, hardships, and calamities;


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truthful speech, and divine power; through the weapons of righteousness in the right and left hands;


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through honor and dishonor; through ill repute and good repute; perceived as deceivers and yet true,


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as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and yet-as you see-very much alive, as punished and yet not killed,


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as sorrowful and yet always rejoicing, as poor and yet enriching many, as having nothing and yet possessing everything.


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Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers. What partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? What fellowship can light have with darkness?


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What harmony exists between the Messiah and Beliar, or what do a believer and an unbeliever have in common?


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What agreement can a temple of God make with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: "I will live and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people."


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Therefore, "Get away from them and separate yourselves from them," declares the Lord, "and don't touch anything unclean. Then I will welcome you.


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Since we have these promises, dear friends, let's cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit by becoming mature in our holy fear of God.


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Make room for us in your hearts! We have not treated anyone unjustly, harmed anyone, or cheated anyone.


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I am not saying this to condemn you. I told you before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.


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I have great confidence in you. I am very proud of you. I am very much encouraged. I am overjoyed in all our troubles.


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For even when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. We suffered in a number of ways. Outwardly there were conflicts, inwardly there were fears.


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and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing for me, your sorrow, and your eagerness to take my side, and this made me even happier.


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If I made you sad with my letter, I do not regret it, although I did regret it then. I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while.


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Now I am happy, not because you had such sorrow, but because your sorrow led you to repent. For you were sorry in a godly way, and so you were not hurt by us in any way.


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For having sorrow in a godly way results in repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets. But the sorrow of the world produces death.


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See what great earnestness godly sorrow has produced in you! How ready you are to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how full of longing and enthusiasm, how eager to seek justice! In every way you have demonstrated that you are innocent in this matter.


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So, even though I wrote to you, it wasn't because of the man who did the wrong or because of the man who was hurt. Instead, I wrote to you so that your devotion to us might be made perfectly clear to you before God.


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This is what comforted us. In addition to our own comfort, we were even more delighted at the joy of Titus, because his spirit had been set at rest by all of you.


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For if I have been doing some boasting about you to him, I have never been ashamed of it. Moreover, since everything we told you was true, our boasting to Titus has also proved to be true.


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His heart goes out to you even more as he remembers how obedient all of you were and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.


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In spite of their terrible ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and deep poverty has led them to be abundantly generous.


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I can testify that by their own free will they have given to the utmost of their ability, yes, even beyond their ability.


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We did not expect that! They gave themselves to the Lord first and then to us, since this was God's will.


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Indeed, the more your faith, speech, knowledge, enthusiasm, and love for us increase, the more we want you to be rich in this work of kindness.


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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Although he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich.


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I am giving you my opinion on this matter because it will be helpful to you. Last year you were not only willing to do something, but had already started to do it.


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Now finish what you began, so that your eagerness to do so may be matched by your eagerness to complete it.


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For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you do not have.


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At the present time, your surplus fills their need, so that their surplus may fill your need. In this way things are fair.


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As it is written, "The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little."


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More than that, he has also been selected by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this work of kindness for the glory of the Lord and as evidence of our eagerness to help.


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We have also sent with them our brother whom we have often tested in many ways and found to be dedicated. At present he is more dedicated than ever because he has so much confidence in you.


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As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker on your behalf. Our brothers, emissaries from the churches, are bringing glory to the Messiah.


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Therefore, demonstrate to the churches that you love them and show them publicly why we boast about you.


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For I know how willing you are, and I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has stimulated most of them.


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Now I have sent the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter may not prove to be an idle boast, and so that you may stand ready, just as I said.


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Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find out that you are not ready, we would be humiliated-to say nothing of you-in this undertaking.


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Therefore, I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to visit you ahead of me, to make arrangements in advance for this gift you promised, and to have it ready as something given generously and not forced.


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Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.


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Each of you must give what you have decided in your heart, not with regret or under compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.


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Besides, God is able to make every blessing of yours overflow for you, so that in every situation you will always have all you need for any good work.


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Now he who supplies seed to the farmer and bread to eat will also supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest that results from your righteousness.


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In every way you will grow richer and become even more generous, and this will cause others to give thanks to God because of us


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because this ministry you render is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, it is also overflowing with more and more prayers of thanksgiving to God.


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Because your service in giving proves your love, you will be glorifying God as you obey what your confession of the Messiah's gospel demands, since you are generous in sharing with them and with everyone else.


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And so in their prayers for you they will long for you because of God's exceptional grace that was shown to you.


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Now I myself, Paul, plead with you with the gentleness and kindness of the Messiah-I who am humble when I am face to face with you but forceful toward you when I am away!


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I beg you that when I come I will not need to be courageous by daring to oppose some people who think that we are living according to the flesh.


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For the weapons of our warfare are not those of the world. Instead, they have the power of God to demolish fortresses. We tear down arguments


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and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey the Messiah.


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Look at the plain facts! If anyone is confident that he belongs to the Messiah, he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to the Messiah, so do we.


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So if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave us to build you up and not to tear you down, I will not be ashamed of it.


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For someone is saying, "His letters are impressive and forceful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible."


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Someone like this should take note of the following: What we say by letter when we are absent is what we will do when present!


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We would not dare put ourselves in the same class with, or compare ourselves to, those who recommend themselves. Whenever they measure themselves by their own standards or compare themselves among themselves, they show how foolish they are.


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We will not boast about what cannot be evaluated. Instead, we will stay within the field that God assigned us, so as to reach even you.


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For it is not as though we were overstepping our limits when we came to you. We were the first to reach you with the gospel of the Messiah.


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We are not boasting about work done by others that cannot be evaluated. On the contrary, we cherish the hope that your faith may continue to grow and enlarge our sphere of action among you until it overflows.


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Then we can preach the gospel in the regions far beyond you without boasting about things already accomplished by someone else.


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I am jealous of you with God's own jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to the Messiah.


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However, I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from sincere and pure devotion to the Messiah.


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For if someone comes along and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or should you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you are all too willing to listen.


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Even though I may be untrained as an orator, I am not so in the field of knowledge. We have made this clear to all of you in every possible way.


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Did I commit a sin when I humbled myself by proclaiming to you the gospel of God free of charge, so that you could be exalted?


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When I was with you and needed something, I did not bother any of you, because our brothers who came from Macedonia supplied everything I needed. I kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.


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As surely as the truth of the Messiah is in me, my boasting will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.


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But I will go on doing what I'm doing in order to deny an opportunity to those people who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in the work they are boasting about.


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So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their doom will match their deeds!


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I will say it again: No one should think that I am a fool. But if you do, then treat me like a fool so that I can also boast a little.


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You tolerate anyone who makes you his slaves, devours what you have, takes what is yours, orders you around, or slaps your face!


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I am ashamed to admit it, but we have been too weak for that. Whatever anyone else dares to claim-I am talking like a fool-I can claim it, too.


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Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelis? So am I. Are they among Abraham's descendants? So am I.


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Are they the Messiah's servants? I am insane to talk like this, but I am a far better one! I have been involved in far greater efforts, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and have faced death more than once.


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Three times I was beaten with a stick, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, and I drifted on the sea for a day and a night.


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I have traveled extensively and have been endangered from rivers, robbers, my own people, and gentiles. I've also been in danger in the city, in the open country, at sea, from false brothers,


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in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger, thirst, many periods of fasting, coldness, and nakedness.


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I must boast, although it does not do any good. Let's talk about visions and revelations from the Lord.


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I know a man who belongs to the Messiah. Fourteen years ago-whether in his body or outside of his body, I do not know, but God knows-that man was snatched away to the third heaven.


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was snatched away to Paradise and heard things that cannot be expressed in words, things that no human being has a right even to mention.


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However, if I did want to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I am not going to do it in order to keep anyone from thinking more of me than what he sees and hears about me.


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To keep me from becoming conceited because of the exceptional nature of these revelations, a thorn was given to me and placed in my body. It was Satan's messenger to keep on tormenting me so that I would not become conceited.


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but he has told me, "My grace is all you need, because my power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most happily boast about my weaknesses, so that the Messiah's power may rest on me.


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That is why I take such pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for the Messiah's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.


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I have become a fool. You forced me to be one. Really, I should have been commended by you, for I am not in any way inferior to your "super-apostles," even if I am nothing.


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The signs of an apostle were performed among you with utmost patience-signs, wonders, and powerful actions.


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How were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I did not bother you for help? Forgive me for this wrong!


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Now I'm ready to visit you for a third time, and I will not bother you for help. I do not want your things, but rather you yourselves. Children should not have to support their parents, but parents their children.


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I will be very glad to spend my money and myself for you. Do you love me less because I love you so much?


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Granting that I have not been a burden to you, was I a clever schemer who trapped you by some trick?


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I encouraged Titus to visit you, and I sent along with him the brother you know so well. Titus didn't take advantage of you, did he? We conducted ourselves with the same spirit, didn't we? We took the very same steps, didn't we?


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Have you been thinking all along that we are trying to defend ourselves before you? We are speaking before God in the authority of the Messiah, and everything, dear friends, is meant to build you up.


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I am afraid that I may come and somehow find you not as I want to find you, and that you may find me not as you want to find me. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly conduct.


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I am afraid that when I come my God may again humble me before you and that I may have to grieve over many who formerly lived in sin and have not repented of their impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity that they once practiced.


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This will be the third time I am coming to you. "Every accusation must be verified by two or three witnesses."


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I have already warned those who sinned previously and all the rest. Although I am absent now, I am warning them as I did on my second visit: If I come back, I will not spare you,


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since you want proof that the Messiah is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is making his power felt among you.


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Though he was crucified in weakness, he lives by God's power. We are weak with him, but by God's power we will live for you.


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Keep examining yourselves to see whether you are continuing in the faith. Test yourselves! You know, don't you, that Jesus the Messiah lives in you? Could it be that you are failing the test?


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We pray to God that you will not do anything wrong-not to show that we have not failed the test, but so that you may do what is right, even if we seem to have failed.


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For this reason I am writing this while I am away from you: When I come I do not want to be severe in using the authority the Lord gave me to build you up and not to tear you down.


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Finally, brothers, goodbye. Keep on growing to maturity. Keep listening to my appeals. Continue agreeing with each other and living in peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.


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May the grace of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you!


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From: Paul-an apostle not sent from men or by a man, but by Jesus the Messiah, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-


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He gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.


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I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of the Messiah and, instead, are following a different gospel,


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not that another one really exists. To be sure, there are certain people who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel about the Messiah.


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But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned!


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What we have told you in the past I am now telling you again: If anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that person be condemned!


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Am I now trying to win the approval of people or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be the Messiah's servant.


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For I did not receive it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it was revealed to me by Jesus the Messiah.


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For you have heard about my earlier life in Judaism-how I kept violently persecuting God's church and was trying to destroy it.


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I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries, because I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.


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to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with another human being at any time,


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nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and then came back to Damascus.


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Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days.


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The only thing they kept hearing was this: "The man who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy!"


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I went in response to a revelation, and in a private meeting with the reputed leaders, I explained to them the gospel that I'm proclaiming to the gentiles. I did this because I was afraid that I was running or had run my life's race for nothing.


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However, false brothers were secretly brought in. They slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in the Messiah Jesus so that they might enslave us.


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But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.


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Now those who were reputed to be important added nothing to my message. (What sort of people they were makes no difference to me, since God pays no attention to outward appearances.)


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In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised.


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For the one who worked through Peter by making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me by sending me to the gentiles.


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So when James, Cephas, and John (who were reputed to be leaders) recognized the grace that had been given me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised.


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Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those men came, he withdrew from the gentiles and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party.


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The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy.


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But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, "Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?"


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yet we know that a person is not justified by doing what the Law requires, but rather by the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah. We, too, have believed in the Messiah Jesus so that we might be justified by the faithfulness of the Messiah and not by doing what the Law requires, for no human being will be justified by doing what the Law requires.


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Now if we, while trying to be justified by the Messiah, have been found to be sinners, does that mean that the Messiah is serving the interests of sin? Of course not!


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For through the Law I died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with the Messiah.


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I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.


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I do not misapply God's grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiah died for nothing.


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You foolish Galatians! Who put you under a spell? Was not Jesus the Messiah clearly portrayed before your very eyes as having been crucified?


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I want to learn only one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the actions of the Law or by believing what you heard?


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Does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do the actions of the Law or because you believe what you heard?


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Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, "Through you all nations will be blessed."


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Certainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!"


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Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the Law, because "The righteous will live by faith."


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But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, "The person who keeps the commandments will have life in them."


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The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!"


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This happened in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.


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Brothers, let me use an example from everyday life. Once a person's will has been ratified, no one can cancel it or add conditions to it.


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Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. It doesn't say "descendants," referring to many, but "your descendant," referring to one person, who is the Messiah.


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This is what I mean: The Law that came 430 years later did not cancel the covenant that God ratified previously. The promise was never nullified.


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For if the inheritance comes about through the Law, it no longer comes about through the promise. But it was through a promise that God so graciously gave it to Abraham.


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Why, then, was the Law added? Because of transgressions, until the descendant came about whom the promise pertained. It was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator.


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So is the Law in conflict with the promises of God? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could give us life, then certainly righteousness would come through the Law.


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But the Scripture has captured everything by means of sin's net, so that what was promised by the faithfulness of the Messiah might be granted to those who believe.


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Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed.


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Because all of you are one in the Messiah Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female.


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And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham's descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.


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Now what I am saying is this: As long as an heir is a child, he is no better off than a slave, even though he owns everything.


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Instead, he is placed under the care of guardians and servant managers until the time set by the father.


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It was the same way with us. While we were children, we were slaves to the basic principles of the world.


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Now because you are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, "Abba! Father!"


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So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if you are a child, then you are also an heir because of what God did.


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However, in the past, when you did not know God, you were slaves to things that are not really gods at all.


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But now that you know God, or rather have been known by God, how can you turn back again to those powerless and bankrupt basic principles? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?


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I beg you, brothers, to become like me, since I became like you. You did not do anything wrong to me.


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Even though my condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. On the contrary, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, or as if I were the Messiah Jesus.


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What, then, happened to your positive attitude? For I testify that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.


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These people who have been instructing you are devoted to you, but not in a good way. They want you to avoid me so that you will be devoted to them.


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Indeed, I wish I were with you right now so that I could change the tone of my voice, because I am completely baffled by you!


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Tell me, those of you who want to live under the Law: Are you really listening to what the Law says?


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Now the slave woman's son was conceived through human means, while the free woman's son was conceived through divine promise.


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This is being said as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. The one woman, Hagar, is from Mount Sinai, and her children are born into slavery.


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Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery along with her children.


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For it is written, "Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband."


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But just as then the son who was conceived according to the flesh persecuted the son who was conceived according to the Spirit, so it is now.


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But what does the Scripture say? "Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman."


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The Messiah has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop putting yourselves under the yoke of slavery again.


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Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, the Messiah will be of no benefit to you.


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Again, I insist that everyone who allows himself to be circumcised is obligated to obey the entire Law.


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Those of you who are trying to be justified by the Law have been cut off from the Messiah. You have fallen away from grace.


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for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love.


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I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view of this. However, the one who is troubling you will suffer God's judgment, whoever he is.


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As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching the necessity of circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.


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For you, brothers, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity to gratify your flesh, but through love make it your habit to serve one another.


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For what the flesh wants is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, and so you do not do what you want to do.


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idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions,


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envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now, as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.


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Brothers, if a person is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person gently. Watch out for yourself so that you are not tempted as well.


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Each person must examine his own actions, and then he can boast about his own accomplishments and not about someone else.


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The person who sows through human means will harvest decay from human means, but the person who sows in the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.


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Let's not get tired of doing what is good, for at the right time we will reap a harvest-if we do not give up.


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So then, whenever we have the opportunity, let's practice doing good to everyone, especially to the family of faith.


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These people who want to impress others by their external appearance are trying to force you to be circumcised, simply to avoid being persecuted for the cross of the Messiah.


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Why, not even those who are circumcised obey the Law! They simply want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your external appearance.


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But may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!


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From: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by God's will. To: His holy and faithful people in Ephesus who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.


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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! He has blessed us in the Messiah with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm,


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just as he chose us in the Messiah before the creation of the universe to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love


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he predestined us for adoption to himself through Jesus the Messiah, according to the pleasure of his will,


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In union with him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of God's grace


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when he made known to us the secret of his will. This was according to his plan that he set forth in the Messiah


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to usher in the fullness of the times and to bring together in the Messiah all things in heaven and on earth.


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In the Messiah we were also chosen when we were predestined according to the purpose of the one who does everything that he wills to do,


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You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,


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who is the guarantee of our inheritance until God redeems his own possession for his praise and glory.


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Therefore, because I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,


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I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the most glorious Father, would give you a wise spirit, along with revelation that comes through knowing the Messiah fully.


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Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence that is produced by God having called you, the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints,


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and the unlimited greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength,


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which he brought about in the Messiah when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm.


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He is far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion, and every name that can be named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.


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God has put everything under the Messiah's feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of the church,


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that you once practiced as you lived according to the ways of this present world and according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now active in those who are disobedient.


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Indeed, all of us once behaved like them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for wrath, just like everyone else.


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even when we were dead because of our offenses, made us alive together with the Messiah (by grace you have been saved),


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so that in the coming ages he might display the limitless riches of his grace that comes to us through his kindness in the Messiah Jesus.


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For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God


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For we are God's masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.


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So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth were called "the uncircumcised" by those who called themselves "the circumcised." They underwent physical circumcision done by human hands.


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At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. You had no hope and were in the world without God.


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But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.


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For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them.


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He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace,


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and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility.


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That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household,


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having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah Jesus himself being the cornerstone.


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In union with him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary for the Lord.


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Surely you have heard about the responsibility of administering God's grace that was given to me on your behalf,


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and how this secret was made known to me through a revelation, just as I wrote about briefly in the past.


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which in previous generations was not made known to human beings as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret:


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The gentiles are heirs-in-common, members-in-common of the body, and common participants in what was promised by the Messiah Jesus through the gospel.


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I have become a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power.


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To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given so that I might proclaim to the gentiles the immeasurable wealth of the Messiah


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and help everyone see how this secret that has been at work was hidden for ages by God, who created all things.


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He did this so that now, through the church, the wisdom of God in all its variety might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm


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So then, I ask you not to become discouraged because of my troubles on your behalf, which work toward your glory.


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I pray that he would give you, according to his glorious riches, strength in your inner being and power through his Spirit,


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and that the Messiah would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love,


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that is, you will know the love of the Messiah-which transcends knowledge, and will be filled with all the fullness of God.


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Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among us-


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I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to live in a way that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called,


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That is why God says, "When he went up to the highest place he led captives into captivity and gave gifts to people."


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Now what does this "he went up" mean except that he also had gone down into the lower parts of the earth?


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The one who went down is the same one who went up above all the heavens so that all things would be fulfilled.


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And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers,


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until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God's Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.


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Then we will no longer be little children, tossed like waves and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, or by clever strategies that would lead us astray.


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Instead, by speaking the truth in love, we will grow up completely and become one with the head, that is, one with the Messiah,


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in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body builds itself up in love.


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Therefore, I tell you and insist on in the Lord not to live any longer like the gentiles live, thinking worthless thoughts.


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They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.


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Since they have lost all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to sensuality and practice every kind of sexual perversion without restraint.


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Regarding your former way of life, you were taught to strip off your old nature, which is being ruined by its deceptive desires,


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and to clothe yourselves with the new nature, which was created according to God's image in righteousness and true holiness.


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Therefore, stripping off falsehood, "let each of us speak the truth to his neighbor," for we belong to one another.


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The thief must no longer steal but must work hard and do what is good with his own hands, so that he might earn something to give to the needy.


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Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment. This way you will administer grace to those who hear you.


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Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred.


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And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah.


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Live lovingly, just as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God.


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Do not let sexual sin, impurity of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints.


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For you know very well that no immoral or impure person, or anyone who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.


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Do not let anyone deceive you with meaningless words, for it is because of these things that God becomes angry with those who disobey.


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and have nothing to do with the unfruitful actions that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are.


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for the light is making everything visible. That is why it says, "Wake up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.''


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Then you will recite to one another psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; you will sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts;


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you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah;


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For the husband is the head of his wife as the Messiah is the head of the church. It is he who is the Savior of the body.


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Indeed, just as the church is submissive to the Messiah, so wives must be submissive to their husbands in everything.


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and might present the church to himself in all its glory, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and without fault.


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In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself.


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For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiah does the church.


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"That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh."


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But each individual man among you must love his wife as he loves himself; and may the wife fear her husband.


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Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up by training and instructing them about the Lord.


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Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear, trembling, and sincerity, as when you obey the Messiah.


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Do not do this only while you're being watched in order to please them, but be like slaves of the Messiah, who are determined to obey God's will.


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because you know that everyone will receive a reward from the Lord for whatever good he has done, whether he is a slave or free.


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Masters, treat your slaves the same way. Do not threaten them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.


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For our struggle is not against human opponents, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us, and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm.


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For this reason, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to take a stand whenever evil comes. And when you have done everything you could, you will be able to stand firm.


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Stand firm, therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,


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In addition to having clothed yourselves with these things, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one,


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Pray in the Spirit at all times with every kind of prayer and request. Likewise, be alert with your most diligent efforts and pray for all the saints.


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Pray also for me, so that, when I begin to speak, the right words will come to me. Then I will boldly make known the secret of the gospel,


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So that you may know what has happened to me and how I am doing, Tychicus, our dear brother and a faithful minister in service to the Lord, will tell you everything.


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I am sending him to you for this very reason, so that you may know how we are doing and that he may encourage your hearts.


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May peace and love, with faith, be with the brothers, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah!


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From: Paul and Timothy, servants of the Messiah Jesus. To: All the holy ones in Philippi, along with their overseers and ministers, who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.


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I am convinced of this, that the one who began a good action among you will bring it to completion by the Day of the Messiah Jesus.


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For it is only right for me to think this way about all of you, because you're constantly on my mind. Both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, all of you are partners with me in this privilege.


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For God is my witness how much I long for all of you with the compassion that the Messiah Jesus provides.


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And this is my prayer, that your love will keep on growing more and more with full knowledge and insight,


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so that you may be able to choose what is best and be pure and blameless until the day when the Messiah returns,


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having been filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus the Messiah so that God will be glorified and praised.


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Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually caused the gospel to advance.


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As a result, it has become clear to the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that I am in prison for preaching about the Messiah.


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Moreover, because of my imprisonment the Lord has caused most of the brothers to become confident to speak God's word more boldly and courageously than ever before.


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Some are preaching the Messiah because of jealousy and dissension, while others do so because of their good will.


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The latter are motivated by love, because they know that I have been appointed to defend the gospel.


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The former proclaim the Messiah because they are selfishly ambitious and insincere, thinking that they will stir up trouble for me during my imprisonment.


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But so what? Just this-that in every way, whether by false or true motives, the Messiah is being proclaimed. Because of this, I rejoice and will continue to rejoice.


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I know that this will result in my deliverance through your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Jesus the Messiah.


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I rejoice because I eagerly expect and hope that I will have nothing to be ashamed of, because through my boldness the Messiah will be exalted through me, now as always, whether I live or die.


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Indeed, I cannot decide between the two. I have the desire to leave this life and be with the Messiah, for that is far better.


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Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will continue to live and be with all of you, so you will mature in the faith and know joy in it.


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The only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah. Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I may hear all about you-that you are standing firm in one spirit, struggling with one mind for the faith of the gospel,


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and that you are not intimidated by your opponents in any way. This is evidence that they will be destroyed and that you will be saved-and all because of God.


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For you have been given the privilege for the Messiah's sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him.


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Therefore, if there is any encouragement in the Messiah, if there is any comfort of love, if there is any fellowship in the Spirit, if there is any compassion and sympathy,


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then fill me with joy by having the same attitude, sharing the same love, being united in spirit, and keeping one purpose in mind.


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Do not act out of selfish ambition or conceit, but with humility think of others as being better than yourselves.


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Instead, poured out in emptiness, a servant's form did he possess, a mortal man becoming. In human form he chose to be,


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Then every tongue in one accord, will say that Jesus the Messiah is Lord, while God the Father praising.


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And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.


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so that you may be blameless and innocent, God's children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world


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as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I will be proud when the Messiah returns that I did not run in vain or work hard in vain.


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Yet even if I am being poured out like an offering as part of the sacrifice and service I offer for your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with all of you.


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Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I can be encouraged when I learn of your condition.


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Meanwhile, I thought it best to send Epaphroditus-my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and minister to my need-back to you.


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Indeed, he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow on top of another.


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Therefore, I am especially eager to send him so that you may have the joy of seeing him again, and so that I may feel relieved.


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because he came close to death for the work of the Messiah by risking his life to complete what remained unfinished in your service to me.


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So then, my brothers, keep on rejoicing in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you; indeed, it is for your safety.


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For it is we who are the circumcision-we who worship in the Spirit of God and find our joy in the Messiah Jesus. We have not placed any confidence in the flesh,


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although I could have confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he can place confidence in the flesh, I have more reason to think so.


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Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee.


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As for my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. As far as righteousness in the Law is concerned, I was blameless.


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What is more, I continue to consider all these things to be a loss for the sake of what is far more valuable, knowing the Messiah Jesus, my Lord. It is because of him that I have experienced the loss of all those things. Indeed, I consider them rubbish in order to gain the Messiah


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and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but one that comes through the faithfulness of the Messiah, the righteousness that comes from God and that depends on faith.


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I want to know the Messiah-what his resurrection power is like and what it means to share in his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,


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It's not that I have already reached this goal or have already become perfect. But I keep pursuing it, hoping somehow to embrace it just as I have been embraced by the Messiah Jesus.


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Brothers, I do not consider myself to have embraced it yet. But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,


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Therefore, those of us who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will show you how to think.


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Join together in imitating me, brothers, and pay close attention to those who live by the example we have set for you.


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For I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of the Messiah.


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Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on worldly things.


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Our citizenship, however, is in heaven, and it is from there that we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.


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He will change our unassuming bodies and make them like his glorious body through the power that enables him to bring everything under his authority.


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Therefore, my dear brothers whom I long for, my joy and my victor's crown, this is how you must stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.


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Yes, I also ask you, my true partner, to help these women. They have worked hard with me to advance the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.


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Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.


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Then God's peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in union with the Messiah Jesus.


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Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things.


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Likewise, keep practicing these things: what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.


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Now I rejoice in the Lord greatly, because once again you have shown your concern for me. Of course, you were concerned for me but you did not have an opportunity to show it.


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I am not saying this because I am in any need, for I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am in.


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I know how to be humble, and I know how to prosper. In each and every situation I have learned the secret of being full and of going hungry, of having too much and of having too little.


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You Philippians also know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church participated with me in the matter of giving and receiving except for you.


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It is not that I am looking for a gift. No, I want to see that you receive the fruit that increases to your benefit.


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I have been paid in full and have more than enough. I am fully supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent-a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.


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Greet every saint who is in union with the Messiah Jesus. The brothers who are with me send their greetings to you.


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To: The holy and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with the Messiah. May grace and peace from God our Father be yours!


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because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints,


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based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel


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that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth.


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You learned about this gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiah on your behalf.


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For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God's will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding,


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so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God.


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You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy


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God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,


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For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.


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He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything.


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Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross.


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he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.


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However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.


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Now I am rejoicing while suffering for you as I complete in my flesh whatever remains of the Messiah's sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church.


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I became its servant as God commissioned me to work for you, so that I may complete my ministry of the word of God.


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to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles-which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope.


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It is he whom we proclaim as we admonish and wisely teach everyone, so that we may present everyone mature in the Messiah.


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For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face.


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Because they are united in love, I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Messiah, who is the mystery of God.


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For although I am physically absent, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in the Messiah is.


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For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you continue to be thankful.


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See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah,


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In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah.


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When you were buried with the Messiah in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.


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Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses,


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having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.


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And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.


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Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days.


