# verse

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 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. 


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 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 


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 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 


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 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 


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 and said, &amp;quot;Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, &amp;apos;After three days I will rise.&amp;apos; 


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 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, &amp;apos;He has risen from the dead,&amp;apos; and the last fraud will be worse than the first.&amp;quot; 


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 Pilate said to them, &amp;quot;You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.&amp;quot; 


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 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 


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 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 


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 But the angel said to the women, &amp;quot;Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 


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 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.&amp;quot; 


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 And behold, Jesus met them and said, &amp;quot;Greetings!&amp;quot; And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 


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 Then Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.&amp;quot; 


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 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 


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 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 


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 and said, &amp;quot;Tell people, &amp;apos;His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.&amp;apos; 


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 And if this comes to the governor&amp;apos;s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.&amp;quot; 


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 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. 


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 And Jesus came and said to them, &amp;quot;All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 


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 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 


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 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.&amp;quot; 


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 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, &amp;quot;Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 


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 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: &amp;apos;Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


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 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 


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 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 


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 Now John was clothed with camel&amp;apos;s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 


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 And he preached, saying, &amp;quot;After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 


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 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 


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 And a voice came from heaven, &amp;quot;You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.&amp;quot; 


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 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. 


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 and saying, &amp;quot;The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.&amp;quot; 


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 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 


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 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 


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 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. 


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 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 


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 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 


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 &amp;quot;What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God.&amp;quot; 


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 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, &amp;quot;What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.&amp;quot; 


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 And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 


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 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 


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 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 


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 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.&amp;quot; 


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 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, &amp;quot;If you will, you can make me clean.&amp;quot; 


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 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, &amp;quot;I will; be clean.&amp;quot; 


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 and said to him, &amp;quot;See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.&amp;quot; 


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 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. 


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 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 


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 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 


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 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, &amp;quot;Son, your sins are forgiven.&amp;quot; 


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 &amp;quot;Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?&amp;quot; 


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 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, &amp;quot;Why do you question these things in your hearts? 


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 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, &amp;apos;Your sins are forgiven,&amp;apos; or to say, &amp;apos;Rise, take up your bed and walk&amp;apos;? 


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 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins&amp;quot;--he said to the paralytic-- 


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 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, &amp;quot;We never saw anything like this!&amp;quot; 


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 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, &amp;quot;Follow me.&amp;quot; And he rose and followed him. 


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 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 


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 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, &amp;quot;Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?&amp;quot; 


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 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, &amp;quot;Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.&amp;quot; 


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 Now John&amp;apos;s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, &amp;quot;Why do John&amp;apos;s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?&amp;quot; 


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 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 


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 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 


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 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 


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 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins--and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.&amp;quot; 


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 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 


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 And the Pharisees were saying to him, &amp;quot;Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 


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 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?&amp;quot; 


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 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?&amp;quot; But they were silent. 


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 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, &amp;quot;Stretch out your hand.&amp;quot; He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 


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 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. 


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 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 


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 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, &amp;quot;You are the Son of God.&amp;quot; 


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 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 


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 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 


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 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 


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 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, &amp;quot;He is out of his mind.&amp;quot; 


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 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, &amp;quot;He is possessed by Beelzebul,&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.&amp;quot; 


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 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 


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 But no one can enter a strong man&amp;apos;s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. 


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 &amp;quot;Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 


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 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin&amp;quot;-- 


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 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, &amp;quot;Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.&amp;quot; 


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 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, &amp;quot;Here are my mother and my brothers! 


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 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 


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 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 


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 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 


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 so that &amp;quot;they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 


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 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 


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 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 


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 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 


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 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 


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 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 


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 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.&amp;quot; 


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 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.&amp;quot; 


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 And he said, &amp;quot;With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 


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 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 


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 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.&amp;quot; 


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 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. 


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 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, &amp;quot;Let us go across to the other side.&amp;quot; 


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 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 


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 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 


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 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, &amp;quot;Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?&amp;quot; 


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 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, &amp;quot;Peace! Be still!&amp;quot; And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 


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 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, &amp;quot;Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?&amp;quot; 


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 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 


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 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 


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 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 


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 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, &amp;quot;What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.&amp;quot; 


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 And Jesus asked him, &amp;quot;What is your name?&amp;quot; He replied, &amp;quot;My name is Legion, for we are many.&amp;quot; 


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 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea. 


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 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 


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 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 


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 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 


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 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 


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 And he did not permit him but said to him, &amp;quot;Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.&amp;quot; 


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 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. 


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 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 


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 and implored him earnestly, saying, &amp;quot;My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.&amp;quot; 


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 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 


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 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 


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 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 


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 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, &amp;quot;Who touched my garments?&amp;quot; 


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 And his disciples said to him, &amp;quot;You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, &amp;apos;Who touched me?&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


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 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 


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 And he said to her, &amp;quot;Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.&amp;quot; 


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 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler&amp;apos;s house some who said, &amp;quot;Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?&amp;quot; 


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 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, &amp;quot;Do not fear, only believe.&amp;quot; 


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 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 


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 And when he had entered, he said to them, &amp;quot;Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.&amp;quot; 


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 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child&amp;apos;s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 


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 Taking her by the hand he said to her, &amp;quot;Talitha cumi,&amp;quot; which means, &amp;quot;Little girl, I say to you, arise.&amp;quot; 


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 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 


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 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. 


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 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, &amp;quot;Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 


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 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?&amp;quot; And they took offense at him. 


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 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.&amp;quot; 


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 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 


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 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 


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 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in their belts-- 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 


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 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.&amp;quot; 


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 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus&amp;apos; name had become known. Some said, &amp;quot;John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.&amp;quot; 


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 But others said, &amp;quot;He is Elijah.&amp;quot; And others said, &amp;quot;He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.&amp;quot; 


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 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip&amp;apos;s wife, because he had married her. 


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 For John had been saying to Herod, &amp;quot;It is not lawful for you to have your brother&amp;apos;s wife.&amp;quot; 


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 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. 


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 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 


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 For when Herodias&amp;apos;s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, &amp;quot;Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.&amp;quot; 


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 And he vowed to her, &amp;quot;Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.&amp;quot; 


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 And she went out and said to her mother, &amp;quot;For what should I ask?&amp;quot; And she said, &amp;quot;The head of John the Baptist.&amp;quot; 


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 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, &amp;quot;I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.&amp;quot; 


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 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 


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 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John&amp;apos;s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.&amp;quot; For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 


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 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 


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 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 


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 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, &amp;quot;This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 


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 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.&amp;quot; 


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 But he answered them, &amp;quot;You give them something to eat.&amp;quot; And they said to him, &amp;quot;Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;How many loaves do you have? Go and see.&amp;quot; And when they had found out, they said, &amp;quot;Five, and two fish.&amp;quot; 


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 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 


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 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 


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 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 


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 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, &amp;quot;Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.&amp;quot; 


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 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 


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 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. 


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 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 


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 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 


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 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, &amp;quot;Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 


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 For Moses said, &amp;apos;Honor your father and your mother&amp;apos;; and, &amp;apos;Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.&amp;apos; 


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 But you say, &amp;apos;If a man tells his father or his mother, &amp;quot;Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban&amp;quot;&amp;apos; (that is, given to God)-- 


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 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.&amp;quot; 


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 And he called the people to him again and said to them, &amp;quot;Hear me, all of you, and understand: 


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 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 


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 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?&amp;quot; (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 


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 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 


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 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 


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 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 


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 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 


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 And he said to her, &amp;quot;Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children&amp;apos;s bread and throw it to the dogs.&amp;quot; 


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 But she answered him, &amp;quot;Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children&amp;apos;s crumbs.&amp;quot; 


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 And he said to her, &amp;quot;For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.&amp;quot; 


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 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 


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 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 


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 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 


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 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, &amp;quot;Ephphatha,&amp;quot; that is, &amp;quot;Be opened.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 


text:
 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, &amp;quot;He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.&amp;quot; 


text:
 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 


text:
 &amp;quot;I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 


text:
 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And his disciples answered him, &amp;quot;How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he asked them, &amp;quot;How many loaves do you have?&amp;quot; They said, &amp;quot;Seven.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 


text:
 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 


text:
 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 


text:
 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, &amp;quot;Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he cautioned them, saying, &amp;quot;Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, &amp;quot;Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 


text:
 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?&amp;quot; They said to him, &amp;quot;Twelve.&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?&amp;quot; And they said to him, &amp;quot;Seven.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 


text:
 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, &amp;quot;Do you see anything?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 


text:
 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, &amp;quot;Who do people say that I am?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they told him, &amp;quot;John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he asked them, &amp;quot;But who do you say that I am?&amp;quot; Peter answered him, &amp;quot;You are the Christ.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 


text:
 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, &amp;quot;Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, &amp;quot;If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 


text:
 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel&amp;apos;s will save it. 


text:
 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 


text:
 And Peter said to Jesus, &amp;quot;Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, &amp;quot;This is my beloved Son; listen to him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 


text:
 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 


text:
 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 


text:
 And someone from the crowd answered him, &amp;quot;Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 


text:
 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he answered them, &amp;quot;O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 


text:
 And Jesus asked his father, &amp;quot;How long has this been happening to him?&amp;quot; And he said, &amp;quot;From childhood. 


text:
 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;If you can&amp;apos;! All things are possible for one who believes.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, &amp;quot;I believe; help my unbelief!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, &amp;quot;You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, &amp;quot;He is dead.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, &amp;quot;Why could we not cast it out?&amp;quot; 


text:
 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, &amp;quot;The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, &amp;quot;What were you discussing on the way?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, &amp;quot;If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 John said to him, &amp;quot;Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Jesus said, &amp;quot;Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 


text:
 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 


text:
 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 


text:
 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 


text:
 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 


text:
 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 


text:
 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, &amp;quot;Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?&amp;quot; 


text:
 They said, &amp;quot;Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 


text:
 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, &amp;quot;Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 


text:
 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, &amp;quot;Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?&amp;quot; 


text:
 You know the commandments: &amp;apos;Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, &amp;quot;You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, &amp;quot;How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, &amp;quot;Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 


text:
 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus looked at them and said, &amp;quot;With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said, &amp;quot;Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 


text:
 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 


text:
 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 


text:
 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, &amp;quot;Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they said to him, &amp;quot;Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they said to him, &amp;quot;We are able.&amp;quot; And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 


text:
 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, &amp;quot;You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 


text:
 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 


text:
 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, &amp;quot;Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, &amp;quot;Son of David, have mercy on me!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus stopped and said, &amp;quot;Call him.&amp;quot; And they called the blind man, saying to him, &amp;quot;Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;What do you want me to do for you?&amp;quot; And the blind man said to him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, let me recover my sight.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Go your way; your faith has made you well.&amp;quot; And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. 


text:
 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 


text:
 and said to them, &amp;quot;Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 


text:
 If anyone says to you, &amp;apos;Why are you doing this?&amp;apos; say, &amp;apos;The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And some of those standing there said to them, &amp;quot;What are you doing, untying the colt?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 


text:
 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, &amp;quot;Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 


text:
 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 


text:
 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 


text:
 And he said to it, &amp;quot;May no one ever eat fruit from you again.&amp;quot; And his disciples heard it. 


text:
 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 


text:
 And he was teaching them and saying to them, &amp;quot;Is it not written, &amp;apos;My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations&amp;apos;? But you have made it a den of robbers.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 


text:
 And Peter remembered and said to him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, &amp;apos;Be taken up and thrown into the sea,&amp;apos; and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 


text:
 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 


text:
 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 


text:
 and they said to him, &amp;quot;By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 


text:
 And they discussed it with one another, saying, &amp;quot;If we say, &amp;apos;From heaven,&amp;apos; he will say, &amp;apos;Why then did you not believe him?&amp;apos; 


text:
 But shall we say, &amp;apos;From man&amp;apos;?&amp;quot;--they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 


text:
 So they answered Jesus, &amp;quot;We do not know.&amp;quot; And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he began to speak to them in parables. &amp;quot;A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 


text:
 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 


text:
 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 


text:
 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 


text:
 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, &amp;apos;They will respect my son.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But those tenants said to one another, &amp;apos;This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.&amp;apos; 


text:
 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 


text:
 Have you not read this Scripture: &amp;quot;&amp;apos;The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 


text:
 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. 


text:
 And they came and said to him, &amp;quot;Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone&amp;apos;s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?&amp;quot; 


text:
 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, &amp;quot;Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they brought one. And he said to them, &amp;quot;Whose likeness and inscription is this?&amp;quot; They said to him, &amp;quot;Caesar&amp;apos;s.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar&amp;apos;s, and to God the things that are God&amp;apos;s.&amp;quot; And they marveled at him. 


text:
 And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man&amp;apos;s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 


text:
 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 


text:
 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 


text:
 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, &amp;apos;I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob&amp;apos;? 


text:
 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, &amp;quot;Which commandment is the most important of all?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;The most important is, &amp;apos;Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 


text:
 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.&amp;apos; 


text:
 The second is this: &amp;apos;You shall love your neighbor as yourself.&amp;apos; There is no other commandment greater than these.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the scribe said to him, &amp;quot;You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 


text:
 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one&amp;apos;s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, &amp;quot;You are not far from the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. 


text:
 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, &amp;quot;How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 


text:
 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.&amp;apos; 


text:
 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?&amp;quot; And the great throng heard him gladly. 


text:
 And in his teaching he said, &amp;quot;Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 


text:
 who devour widows&amp;apos; houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 


text:
 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, &amp;quot;Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 


text:
 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, &amp;quot;Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 


text:
 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 


text:
 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 


text:
 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 


text:
 And you will be hated by all for my name&amp;apos;s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 


text:
 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 


text:
 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 


text:
 And then if anyone says to you, &amp;apos;Look, here is the Christ!&amp;apos; or &amp;apos;Look, there he is!&amp;apos; do not believe it. 


text:
 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 


text:
 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 


text:
 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 


text:
 Therefore stay awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning-- 


text:
 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 


text:
 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 


text:
 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, &amp;quot;Why was the ointment wasted like that? 


text:
 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.&amp;quot; And they scolded her. 


text:
 But Jesus said, &amp;quot;Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 


text:
 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 


text:
 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 


text:
 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. 


text:
 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, &amp;quot;Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, &amp;quot;Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 


text:
 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, &amp;apos;The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?&amp;apos; 


text:
 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. 


text:
 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, &amp;quot;Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 


text:
 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, &amp;quot;Take; this is my body.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;You will all fall away, for it is written, &amp;apos;I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he said emphatically, &amp;quot;If I must die with you, I will not deny you.&amp;quot; And they all said the same. 


text:
 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, &amp;quot;Sit here while I pray.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, &amp;quot;Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 


text:
 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. 


text:
 And he came the third time and said to them, &amp;quot;Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 


text:
 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 


text:
 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, &amp;quot;The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, &amp;quot;Rabbi!&amp;quot; And he kissed him. 


text:
 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 


text:
 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 


text:
 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 


text:
 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. 


text:
 Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 


text:
 &amp;quot;We heard him say, &amp;apos;I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, &amp;quot;Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, &amp;quot;Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said, &amp;quot;I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.&amp;quot; 


text:
 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?&amp;quot; And they all condemned him as deserving death. 


text:
 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, &amp;quot;Prophesy!&amp;quot; And the guards received him with blows. 


text:
 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, &amp;quot;You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he denied it, saying, &amp;quot;I neither know nor understand what you mean.&amp;quot; And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 


text:
 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, &amp;quot;This man is one of them.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, &amp;quot;Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, &amp;quot;I do not know this man of whom you speak.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, &amp;quot;Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.&amp;quot; And he broke down and wept. 


text:
 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 


text:
 And Pilate asked him, &amp;quot;Are you the King of the Jews?&amp;quot; And he answered him, &amp;quot;You have said so.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Pilate again asked him, &amp;quot;Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 


text:
 And he answered them, saying, &amp;quot;Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Pilate again said to them, &amp;quot;Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Pilate said to them, &amp;quot;Why, what evil has he done?&amp;quot; But they shouted all the more, &amp;quot;Crucify him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 


text:
 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor&amp;apos;s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 


text:
 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 


text:
 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 


text:
 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 


text:
 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 


text:
 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 


text:
 [And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, &amp;quot;He was numbered with the transgressors.&amp;quot;] 


text:
 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, &amp;quot;Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 


text:
 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, &amp;quot;He saved others; he cannot save himself. 


text:
 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.&amp;quot; Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. 


text:
 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, &amp;quot;Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?&amp;quot; which means, &amp;quot;My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, &amp;quot;Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, &amp;quot;Truly this man was the Son of God!&amp;quot; 


text:
 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 


text:
 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. 


text:
 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 


text:
 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 


text:
 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 


text:
 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 


text:
 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 


text:
 And they were saying to one another, &amp;quot;Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 


text:
 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. 


text:
 [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 


text:
 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 


text:
 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 


text:
 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 


text:
 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 


text:
 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]] 


text:
 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 


text:
 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 


text:
 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 


text:
 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 


text:
 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 


text:
 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 


text:
 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 


text:
 But the angel said to him, &amp;quot;Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 


text:
 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother&amp;apos;s womb. 


text:
 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Zechariah said to the angel, &amp;quot;How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the angel answered him, &amp;quot;I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 


text:
 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 


text:
 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.&amp;quot; 


text:
 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin&amp;apos;s name was Mary. 


text:
 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 


text:
 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 


text:
 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the angel answered her, &amp;quot;The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God. 


text:
 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 


text:
 And Mary said, &amp;quot;Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.&amp;quot; And the angel departed from her. 


text:
 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 


text:
 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, &amp;quot;Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 


text:
 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.&amp;quot; 


text:
 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 


text:
 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 


text:
 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 


text:
 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, &amp;quot;His name is John.&amp;quot; And they all wondered. 


text:
 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 


text:
 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, &amp;quot;What then will this child be?&amp;quot; For the hand of the Lord was with him. 


text:
 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 


text:
 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. 


text:
 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 


text:
 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 


text:
 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 


text:
 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 


text:
 And the angel said to them, &amp;quot;Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 


text:
 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!&amp;quot; 


text:
 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, &amp;quot;Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 


text:
 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 


text:
 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 


text:
 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, &amp;quot;Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord&amp;quot;) 


text:
 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, &amp;quot;a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 


text:
 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord&amp;apos;s Christ. 


text:
 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 


text:
 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, &amp;quot;Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 


text:
 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 


text:
 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 


text:
 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. 


text:
 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 


text:
 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 


text:
 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day&amp;apos;s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 


text:
 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 


text:
 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, &amp;quot;Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father&amp;apos;s house?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 


text:
 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 


text:
 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 


text:
 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 


text:
 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, &amp;quot;The voice of one crying in the wilderness: &amp;apos;Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 


text:
 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 


text:
 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, &amp;quot;You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 


text:
 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, &amp;apos;We have Abraham as our father.&amp;apos; For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 


text:
 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he answered them, &amp;quot;Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, &amp;quot;Teacher, what shall we do?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Soldiers also asked him, &amp;quot;And we, what shall we do?&amp;quot; And he said to them, &amp;quot;Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.&amp;quot; 


text:
 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 


text:
 John answered them all, saying, &amp;quot;I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 


text:
 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother&amp;apos;s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 


text:
 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 


text:
 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, &amp;quot;You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 


text:
 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 


text:
 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 


text:
 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 


text:
 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 


text:
 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 


text:
 The devil said to him, &amp;quot;If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;It is written, &amp;apos;Man shall not live by bread alone.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 and said to him, &amp;quot;To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 


text:
 And Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;It is written, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, &amp;quot;If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 


text:
 for it is written, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,&amp;apos; 


text:
 and &amp;quot;&amp;apos;On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;It is said, &amp;apos;You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 


text:
 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 


text:
 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 


text:
 &amp;quot;The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 


text:
 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 


text:
 And he began to say to them, &amp;quot;Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, &amp;quot;Is not this Joseph&amp;apos;s son?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, &amp;apos;Physician, heal yourself.&amp;apos; What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 


text:
 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 


text:
 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 


text:
 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, &amp;quot;Be silent and come out of him!&amp;quot; And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 


text:
 And they were all amazed and said to one another, &amp;quot;What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon&amp;apos;s house. Now Simon&amp;apos;s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 


text:
 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 


text:
 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 


text:
 And demons also came out of many, crying, &amp;quot;You are the Son of God!&amp;quot; But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. 


text:
 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 


text:
 but he said to them, &amp;quot;I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.&amp;quot; 


text:
 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 


text:
 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 


text:
 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon&amp;apos;s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 


text:
 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, &amp;quot;Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Simon answered, &amp;quot;Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.&amp;quot; 


text:
 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 


text:
 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus&amp;apos; knees, saying, &amp;quot;Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.&amp;quot; 


text:
 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, &amp;quot;Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.&amp;quot; 


text:
 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, &amp;quot;Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, &amp;quot;I will; be clean.&amp;quot; And immediately the leprosy left him. 


text:
 And he charged him to tell no one, but &amp;quot;go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 


text:
 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 


text:
 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 


text:
 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 


text:
 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, &amp;quot;Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, &amp;quot;Why do you question in your hearts? 


text:
 Which is easier, to say, &amp;apos;Your sins are forgiven you,&amp;apos; or to say, &amp;apos;Rise and walk&amp;apos;? 


text:
 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins&amp;quot;--he said to the man who was paralyzed--&amp;quot;I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 


text:
 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, &amp;quot;We have seen extraordinary things today.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, &amp;quot;Follow me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 


text:
 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, &amp;quot;Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 


text:
 And they said to him, &amp;quot;The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? 


text:
 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He also told them a parable: &amp;quot;No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 


text:
 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 


text:
 And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, &amp;apos;The old is good.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 


text:
 But some of the Pharisees said, &amp;quot;Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 


text:
 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?&amp;quot; 


text:
 On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 


text:
 And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 


text:
 But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, &amp;quot;Come and stand here.&amp;quot; And he rose and stood there. 


text:
 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And after looking around at them all he said to him, &amp;quot;Stretch out your hand.&amp;quot; And he did so, and his hand was restored. 


text:
 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 


text:
 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 


text:
 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 


text:
 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: &amp;quot;Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. &amp;quot;Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 


text:
 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. &amp;quot;Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. 


text:
 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 


text:
 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 


text:
 &amp;quot;If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 


text:
 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 


text:
 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 


text:
 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 


text:
 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He also told them a parable: &amp;quot;Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 


text:
 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 


text:
 How can you say to your brother, &amp;apos;Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,&amp;apos; when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother&amp;apos;s eye. 


text:
 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 


text:
 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 


text:
 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 


text:
 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 


text:
 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 


text:
 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, &amp;quot;He is worthy to have you do this for him, 


text:
 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, &amp;quot;Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 


text:
 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, &amp;apos;Go,&amp;apos; and he goes; and to another, &amp;apos;Come,&amp;apos; and he comes; and to my servant, &amp;apos;Do this,&amp;apos; and he does it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, &amp;quot;I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.&amp;quot; 


text:
 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 


text:
 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, &amp;quot;Do not weep.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, &amp;quot;Young man, I say to you, arise.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, &amp;quot;A great prophet has arisen among us!&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;God has visited his people!&amp;quot; 


text:
 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, &amp;quot;Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the men had come to him, they said, &amp;quot;John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, &amp;apos;Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 


text:
 And he answered them, &amp;quot;Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 


text:
 When John&amp;apos;s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: &amp;quot;What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 


text:
 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings&amp;apos; courts. 


text:
 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.&amp;quot; 


text:
 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 


text:
 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) 


text:
 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.&amp;apos; 


text:
 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, &amp;apos;He has a demon.&amp;apos; 


text:
 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, &amp;apos;Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!&amp;apos; 


text:
 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee&amp;apos;s house and took his place at the table. 


text:
 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee&amp;apos;s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 


text:
 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 


text:
 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, &amp;quot;If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus answering said to him, &amp;quot;Simon, I have something to say to you.&amp;quot; And he answered, &amp;quot;Say it, Teacher.&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 


text:
 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Simon answered, &amp;quot;The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.&amp;quot; And he said to him, &amp;quot;You have judged rightly.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, &amp;quot;Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 


text:
 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, &amp;quot;Who is this, who even forgives sins?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 


text:
 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 


text:
 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod&amp;apos;s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. 


text:
 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 


text:
 &amp;quot;A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 


text:
 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.&amp;quot; As he said these things, he called out, &amp;quot;He who has ears to hear, let him hear.&amp;quot; 


text:
 he said, &amp;quot;To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that &amp;apos;seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.&amp;apos; 


text:
 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 


text:
 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 


text:
 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 


text:
 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. 


text:
 &amp;quot;No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 


text:
 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 


text:
 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he was told, &amp;quot;Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he answered them, &amp;quot;My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, &amp;quot;Let us go across to the other side of the lake.&amp;quot; So they set out, 


text:
 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 


text:
 And they went and woke him, saying, &amp;quot;Master, Master, we are perishing!&amp;quot; And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;Where is your faith?&amp;quot; And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, &amp;quot;Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 


text:
 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, &amp;quot;What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 


text:
 Jesus then asked him, &amp;quot;What is your name?&amp;quot; And he said, &amp;quot;Legion,&amp;quot; for many demons had entered him. 


text:
 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 


text:
 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. 


text:
 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 


text:
 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 


text:
 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.&amp;quot; And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. 


text:
 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus&amp;apos; feet, he implored him to come to his house, 


text:
 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 


text:
 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 


text:
 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 


text:
 And Jesus said, &amp;quot;Who was it that touched me?&amp;quot; When all denied it, Peter said, &amp;quot;Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Jesus said, &amp;quot;Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 


text:
 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler&amp;apos;s house came and said, &amp;quot;Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, &amp;quot;Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 


text:
 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, &amp;quot;Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 


text:
 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. 


text:
 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 


text:
 Herod said, &amp;quot;John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?&amp;quot; And he sought to see him. 


text:
 On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 


text:
 When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. 


text:
 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, &amp;quot;Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he said to them, &amp;quot;You give them something to eat.&amp;quot; They said, &amp;quot;We have no more than five loaves and two fish--unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.&amp;quot; 


text:
 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, &amp;quot;Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 


text:
 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. 


text:
 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, &amp;quot;Who do the crowds say that I am?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they answered, &amp;quot;John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then he said to them, &amp;quot;But who do you say that I am?&amp;quot; And Peter answered, &amp;quot;The Christ of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to all, &amp;quot;If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 


text:
 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 


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


text:
 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 


text:
 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 


text:
 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 


text:
 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, &amp;quot;Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah&amp;quot;--not knowing what he said. 


text:
 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 


text:
 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, &amp;quot;This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. 


text:
 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, &amp;quot;Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 


text:
 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.&amp;quot; 


text:
 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 


text:
 And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying. 


text:
 and said to them, &amp;quot;Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.&amp;quot; 


text:
 John answered, &amp;quot;Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 


text:
 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, &amp;quot;Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?&amp;quot; 


text:
 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, &amp;quot;I will follow you wherever you go.&amp;quot; 


text:
 To another he said, &amp;quot;Follow me.&amp;quot; But he said, &amp;quot;Lord, let me first go and bury my father.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Yet another said, &amp;quot;I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 


text:
 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 


text:
 &amp;apos;Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 


text:
 &amp;quot;The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, &amp;quot;Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!&amp;quot; 


text:
 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 


text:
 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.&amp;quot; 


text:
 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, &amp;quot;I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 


text:
 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, &amp;quot;Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 


text:
 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, &amp;quot;Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he answered, &amp;quot;You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus replied, &amp;quot;A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 


text:
 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 


text:
 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 


text:
 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, &amp;apos;Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said, &amp;quot;The one who showed him mercy.&amp;quot; And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;You go, and do likewise.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 


text:
 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord&amp;apos;s feet and listened to his teaching. 


text:
 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, &amp;quot;Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But the Lord answered her, &amp;quot;Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 


text:
 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;When you pray, say: &amp;quot;Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 


text:
 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, &amp;apos;Friend, lend me three loaves, 


text:
 and he will answer from within, &amp;apos;Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything&amp;apos;? 


text:
 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 


text:
 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 


text:
 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 


text:
 But some of them said, &amp;quot;He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, &amp;quot;Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 


text:
 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 


text:
 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 


text:
 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 


text:
 &amp;quot;When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, &amp;apos;I will return to my house from which I came.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.&amp;quot; 


text:
 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, &amp;quot;Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!&amp;quot; 


text:
 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, &amp;quot;This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 


text:
 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 


text:
 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 


text:
 &amp;quot;No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 


text:
 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 


text:
 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.&amp;quot; 


text:
 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 


text:
 And the Lord said to him, &amp;quot;Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 


text:
 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 


text:
 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 One of the lawyers answered him, &amp;quot;Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 


text:
 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 


text:
 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, &amp;apos;I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,&amp;apos; 


text:
 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 


text:
 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 


text:
 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.&amp;quot; 


text:
 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 


text:
 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, &amp;quot;Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 


text:
 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. 


text:
 &amp;quot;I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 


text:
 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 


text:
 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. 


text:
 &amp;quot;And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 


text:
 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 


text:
 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 


text:
 Someone in the crowd said to him, &amp;quot;Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one&amp;apos;s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.&amp;quot; 


text:
 and he thought to himself, &amp;apos;What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;apos;I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 


text:
 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But God said to him, &amp;apos;Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he said to his disciples, &amp;quot;Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 


text:
 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 


text:
 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 


text:
 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 


text:
 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father&amp;apos;s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 


text:
 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 


text:
 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 


text:
 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 


text:
 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 


text:
 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 


text:
 And the Lord said, &amp;quot;Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 


text:
 But if that servant says to himself, &amp;apos;My master is delayed in coming,&amp;apos; and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 


text:
 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 


text:
 And that servant who knew his master&amp;apos;s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 


text:
 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. 


text:
 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He also said to the crowds, &amp;quot;When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, &amp;apos;A shower is coming.&amp;apos; And so it happens. 


text:
 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, &amp;apos;There will be scorching heat,&amp;apos; and it happens. 


text:
 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? 


text:
 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 


text:
 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 


text:
 And he answered them, &amp;quot;Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 


text:
 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 


text:
 And he told this parable: &amp;quot;A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 


text:
 And he said to the vinedresser, &amp;apos;Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he answered him, &amp;apos;Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 


text:
 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 


text:
 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, &amp;quot;Woman, you are freed from your disability.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, &amp;quot;There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then the Lord answered him, &amp;quot;You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 


text:
 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?&amp;quot; 


text:
 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. 


text:
 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.&amp;quot; 


text:
 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And someone said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, will those who are saved be few?&amp;quot; And he said to them, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 


text:
 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, &amp;apos;Lord, open to us,&amp;apos; then he will answer you, &amp;apos;I do not know where you come from.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Then you will begin to say, &amp;apos;We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But he will say, &amp;apos;I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!&amp;apos; 


text:
 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 


text:
 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 


text:
 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, &amp;quot;Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Go and tell that fox, &amp;apos;Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 


text:
 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.&amp;apos; 


text:
 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 


text:
 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, &amp;apos;Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 


text:
 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, &amp;quot;Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 


text:
 &amp;quot;When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 


text:
 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, &amp;apos;Give your place to this person,&amp;apos; and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 


text:
 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, &amp;apos;Friend, move up higher.&amp;apos; Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 


text:
 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said also to the man who had invited him, &amp;quot;When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 


text:
 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, &amp;quot;Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, &amp;apos;Come, for everything is now ready.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, &amp;apos;I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And another said, &amp;apos;I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.&amp;apos; 


text:
 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, &amp;apos;Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And the servant said, &amp;apos;Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And the master said to the servant, &amp;apos;Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 


text:
 &amp;quot;If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 


text:
 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 


text:
 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 


text:
 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 


text:
 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 


text:
 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, &amp;quot;This man receives sinners and eats with them.&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 


text:
 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, &amp;apos;Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 


text:
 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, &amp;apos;Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And the younger of them said to his father, &amp;apos;Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.&amp;apos; And he divided his property between them. 


text:
 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 


text:
 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 


text:
 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But when he came to himself, he said, &amp;apos;How many of my father&amp;apos;s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 


text:
 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, &amp;quot;Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 


text:
 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.&amp;quot;&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 


text:
 And the son said to him, &amp;apos;Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But the father said to his servants, &amp;apos;Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 


text:
 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.&amp;apos; And they began to celebrate. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 


text:
 And he said to him, &amp;apos;Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.&amp;apos; 


text:
 but he answered his father, &amp;apos;Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 


text:
 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!&amp;apos; 


text:
 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 He also said to the disciples, &amp;quot;There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 


text:
 And he called him and said to him, &amp;apos;What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And the manager said to himself, &amp;apos;What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 


text:
 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.&amp;apos; 


text:
 So, summoning his master&amp;apos;s debtors one by one, he said to the first, &amp;apos;How much do you owe my master?&amp;apos; 


text:
 He said, &amp;apos;A hundred measures of oil.&amp;apos; He said to him, &amp;apos;Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Then he said to another, &amp;apos;And how much do you owe?&amp;apos; He said, &amp;apos;A hundred measures of wheat.&amp;apos; He said to him, &amp;apos;Take your bill, and write eighty.&amp;apos; 


text:
 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 


text:
 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. 


text:
 &amp;quot;One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 


text:
 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 


text:
 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another&amp;apos;s, who will give you that which is your own? 


text:
 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. 


text:
 &amp;quot;The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. 


text:
 &amp;quot;There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 


text:
 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man&amp;apos;s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 


text:
 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham&amp;apos;s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 


text:
 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 


text:
 And he called out, &amp;apos;Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But Abraham said, &amp;apos;Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 


text:
 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.&amp;apos; 


text:
 for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;apos;No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.&amp;apos; 


text:
 He said to him, &amp;apos;If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to his disciples, &amp;quot;Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 


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


text:
 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, &amp;apos;I repent,&amp;apos; you must forgive him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the Lord said, &amp;quot;If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, &amp;apos;Be uprooted and planted in the sea,&amp;apos; and it would obey you. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, &amp;apos;Come at once and recline at table&amp;apos;? 


text:
 Will he not rather say to him, &amp;apos;Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink&amp;apos;? 


text:
 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, &amp;apos;We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 When he saw them he said to them, &amp;quot;Go and show yourselves to the priests.&amp;quot; And as they went they were cleansed. 


text:
 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, &amp;quot;The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, 


text:
 nor will they say, &amp;apos;Look, here it is!&amp;apos; or &amp;apos;There!&amp;apos; for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to the disciples, &amp;quot;The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 


text:
 And they will say to you, &amp;apos;Look, there!&amp;apos; or &amp;apos;Look, here!&amp;apos; Do not go out or follow them. 


text:
 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 


text:
 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 


text:
 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot--they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 


text:
 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all-- 


text:
 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 


text:
 And they said to him, &amp;quot;Where, Lord?&amp;quot; He said to them, &amp;quot;Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, &amp;apos;Give me justice against my adversary.&amp;apos; 


text:
 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, &amp;apos;Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 


text:
 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 


text:
 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?&amp;quot; 


text:
 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 


text:
 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: &amp;apos;God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 


text:
 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, &amp;apos;God, be merciful to me, a sinner!&amp;apos; 


text:
 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 


text:
 But Jesus called them to him, saying, &amp;quot;Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 


text:
 You know the commandments: &amp;apos;Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, &amp;quot;One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, &amp;quot;How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 


text:
 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 


text:
 And taking the twelve, he said to them, &amp;quot;See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 


text:
 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 


text:
 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. 


text:
 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, &amp;quot;Son of David, have mercy on me!&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;What do you want me to do for you?&amp;quot; He said, &amp;quot;Lord, let me recover my sight.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. 


text:
 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. 


text:
 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 


text:
 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, &amp;quot;Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, &amp;quot;He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, &amp;quot;Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 


text:
 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 


text:
 He said therefore, &amp;quot;A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 


text:
 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, &amp;apos;Engage in business until I come.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, &amp;apos;We do not want this man to reign over us.&amp;apos; 


text:
 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 


text:
 And he said to him, &amp;apos;Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Then another came, saying, &amp;apos;Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 


text:
 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.&amp;apos; 


text:
 He said to him, &amp;apos;I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 


text:
 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he said to those who stood by, &amp;apos;Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;apos;I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 


text:
 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 


text:
 If anyone asks you, &amp;apos;Why are you untying it?&amp;apos; you shall say this: &amp;apos;The Lord has need of it.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, &amp;quot;Why are you untying the colt?&amp;quot; 


text:
 As he was drawing near--already on the way down the Mount of Olives--the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, &amp;quot;Teacher, rebuke your disciples.&amp;quot; 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 


text:
 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 


text:
 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 saying to them, &amp;quot;It is written, &amp;apos;My house shall be a house of prayer,&amp;apos; but you have made it a den of robbers.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 


text:
 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 


text:
 and said to him, &amp;quot;Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they discussed it with one another, saying, &amp;quot;If we say, &amp;apos;From heaven,&amp;apos; he will say, &amp;apos;Why did you not believe him?&amp;apos; 


text:
 But if we say, &amp;apos;From man,&amp;apos; all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he began to tell the people this parable: &amp;quot;A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. 


text:
 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 


text:
 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 


text:
 Then the owner of the vineyard said, &amp;apos;What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, &amp;apos;This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 


text:
 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.&amp;quot; When they heard this, they said, &amp;quot;Surely not!&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he looked directly at them and said, &amp;quot;What then is this that is written: &amp;quot;&amp;apos;The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone&amp;apos;? 


text:
 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 


text:
 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 


text:
 So they asked him, &amp;quot;Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?&amp;quot; They said, &amp;quot;Caesar&amp;apos;s.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar&amp;apos;s, and to God the things that are God&amp;apos;s.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent. 


text:
 and they asked him a question, saying, &amp;quot;Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man&amp;apos;s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 


text:
 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.&amp;quot; 


text:
 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 


text:
 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 


text:
 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 


text:
 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 


text:
 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 


text:
 &amp;quot;As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they asked him, &amp;quot;Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, &amp;apos;I am he!&amp;apos; and, &amp;apos;The time is at hand!&amp;apos; Do not go after them. 


text:
 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.&amp;quot; 


text:
 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 


text:
 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name&amp;apos;s sake. 


text:
 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 


text:
 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 


text:
 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 


text:
 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 


text:
 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 


text:
 &amp;quot;And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 


text:
 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 


text:
 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.&amp;quot; 


text:
 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 


text:
 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 


text:
 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. 


text:
 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, &amp;quot;Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 


text:
 and tell the master of the house, &amp;apos;The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 


text:
 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, &amp;quot;Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 


text:
 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, &amp;quot;This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, &amp;quot;This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. 


text:
 For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 


text:
 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 


text:
 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. 


text:
 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 


text:
 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Peter said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said, &amp;quot;I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?&amp;quot; They said, &amp;quot;Nothing.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. 


text:
 For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: &amp;apos;And he was numbered with the transgressors.&amp;apos; For what is written about me has its fulfillment.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they said, &amp;quot;Look, Lord, here are two swords.&amp;quot; And he said to them, &amp;quot;It is enough.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 


text:
 And when he came to the place, he said to them, &amp;quot;Pray that you may not enter into temptation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 


text:
 and he said to them, &amp;quot;Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 


text:
 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, &amp;quot;Lord, shall we strike with the sword?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, &amp;quot;Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 


text:
 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest&amp;apos;s house, and Peter was following at a distance. 


text:
 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 


text:
 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, &amp;quot;This man also was with him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And a little later someone else saw him and said, &amp;quot;You also are one of them.&amp;quot; But Peter said, &amp;quot;Man, I am not.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, &amp;quot;Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Peter said, &amp;quot;Man, I do not know what you are talking about.&amp;quot; And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 


text:
 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, &amp;quot;Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.&amp;quot; 


text:
 They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, &amp;quot;Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, 


text:
 &amp;quot;If you are the Christ, tell us.&amp;quot; But he said to them, &amp;quot;If I tell you, you will not believe, 


text:
 So they all said, &amp;quot;Are you the Son of God, then?&amp;quot; And he said to them, &amp;quot;You say that I am.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then they said, &amp;quot;What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they began to accuse him, saying, &amp;quot;We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, &amp;quot;I find no guilt in this man.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But they were urgent, saying, &amp;quot;He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod&amp;apos;s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 


text:
 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 


text:
 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 


text:
 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other. 


text:
 and said to them, &amp;quot;You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 


text:
 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. 


text:
 But they all cried out together, &amp;quot;Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas&amp;quot;-- 


text:
 A third time he said to them, &amp;quot;Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. 


text:
 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. 


text:
 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 


text:
 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 


text:
 But turning to them Jesus said, &amp;quot;Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 


text:
 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, &amp;apos;Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!&amp;apos; 


text:
 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, &amp;apos;Fall on us,&amp;apos; and to the hills, &amp;apos;Cover us.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 


text:
 And Jesus said, &amp;quot;Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.&amp;quot; And they cast lots to divide his garments. 


text:
 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, &amp;quot;He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!&amp;quot; 


text:
 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, &amp;quot;Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!&amp;quot; 


text:
 But the other rebuked him, saying, &amp;quot;Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 


text:
 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to him, &amp;quot;Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, &amp;quot;Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!&amp;quot; And having said this he breathed his last. 


text:
 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, &amp;quot;Certainly this man was innocent!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 


text:
 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. 


text:
 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 


text:
 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 


text:
 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. 


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


text:
 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, &amp;quot;Why do you seek the living among the dead? 


text:
 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 


text:
 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?&amp;quot; And they stood still, looking sad. 


text:
 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, &amp;quot;Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;What things?&amp;quot; And they said to him, &amp;quot;Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 


text:
 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 


text:
 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 


text:
 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 


text:
 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 


text:
 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 


text:
 but they urged him strongly, saying, &amp;quot;Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.&amp;quot; So he went in to stay with them. 


text:
 They said to each other, &amp;quot;Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 


text:
 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. 


text:
 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, &amp;quot;Peace to you!&amp;quot; 


text:
 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, &amp;quot;Have you anything here to eat?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then he said to them, &amp;quot;These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.&amp;quot; 


text:
 and said to them, &amp;quot;Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 


text:
 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 


text:
 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 


text:
 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 


text:
 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, &amp;quot;This was he of whom I said, &amp;apos;He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.&amp;apos;&amp;quot;) 


text:
 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father&amp;apos;s side, he has made him known. 


text:
 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, &amp;quot;Who are you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they asked him, &amp;quot;What then? Are you Elijah?&amp;quot; He said, &amp;quot;I am not.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Are you the Prophet?&amp;quot; And he answered, &amp;quot;No.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So they said to him, &amp;quot;Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said, &amp;quot;I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, &amp;apos;Make straight the way of the Lord,&amp;apos; as the prophet Isaiah said.&amp;quot; 


text:
 They asked him, &amp;quot;Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?&amp;quot; 


text:
 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, &amp;quot;Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 


text:
 This is he of whom I said, &amp;apos;After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.&amp;apos; 


text:
 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And John bore witness: &amp;quot;I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 


text:
 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, &amp;apos;He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, &amp;quot;What are you seeking?&amp;quot; And they said to him, &amp;quot;Rabbi&amp;quot; (which means Teacher), &amp;quot;where are you staying?&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;Come and you will see.&amp;quot; So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 


text:
 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter&amp;apos;s brother. 


text:
 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, &amp;quot;We have found the Messiah&amp;quot; (which means Christ). 


text:
 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, &amp;quot;So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas&amp;quot; (which means Peter). 


text:
 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, &amp;quot;Follow me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, &amp;quot;We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Nathanael said to him, &amp;quot;Can anything good come out of Nazareth?&amp;quot; Philip said to him, &amp;quot;Come and see.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, &amp;quot;Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!&amp;quot; 


text:
 Nathanael said to him, &amp;quot;How do you know me?&amp;quot; Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Nathanael answered him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;Because I said to you, &amp;apos;I saw you under the fig tree,&amp;apos; do you believe? You will see greater things than these.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said to him, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 


text:
 Jesus said to the servants, &amp;quot;Fill the jars with water.&amp;quot; And they filled them up to the brim. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.&amp;quot; So they took it. 


text:
 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 


text:
 and said to him, &amp;quot;Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.&amp;quot; 


text:
 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 


text:
 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 


text:
 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 


text:
 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 


text:
 And he told those who sold the pigeons, &amp;quot;Take these things away; do not make my Father&amp;apos;s house a house of trade.&amp;quot; 


text:
 His disciples remembered that it was written, &amp;quot;Zeal for your house will consume me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Jews then said, &amp;quot;It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?&amp;quot; 


text:
 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 


text:
 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 


text:
 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Nicodemus said to him, &amp;quot;How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother&amp;apos;s womb and be born?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 


text:
 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 


text:
 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 


text:
 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 


text:
 &amp;quot;For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 


text:
 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 


text:
 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 


text:
 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 


text:
 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 


text:
 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 


text:
 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 


text:
 And they came to John and said to him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness--look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 John answered, &amp;quot;A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 


text:
 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, &amp;apos;I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.&amp;apos; 


text:
 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom&amp;apos;s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 


text:
 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 


text:
 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. 


text:
 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 


text:
 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 


text:
 Jacob&amp;apos;s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 


text:
 The Samaritan woman said to him, &amp;quot;How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?&amp;quot; (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 


text:
 Jesus answered her, &amp;quot;If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, &amp;apos;Give me a drink,&amp;apos; you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The woman said to him, &amp;quot;Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 


text:
 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.&amp;quot; 


text:
 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The woman said to him, &amp;quot;Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The woman answered him, &amp;quot;I have no husband.&amp;quot; Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;You are right in saying, &amp;apos;I have no husband&amp;apos;; 


text:
 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 


text:
 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 


text:
 The woman said to him, &amp;quot;I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, &amp;quot;What do you seek?&amp;quot; or, &amp;quot;Why are you talking with her?&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the disciples said to one another, &amp;quot;Has anyone brought him something to eat?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 


text:
 Do you not say, &amp;apos;There are yet four months, then comes the harvest&amp;apos;? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 


text:
 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 


text:
 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman&amp;apos;s testimony, &amp;quot;He told me all that I ever did.&amp;quot; 


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


text:
 They said to the woman, &amp;quot;It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. 


text:
 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 


text:
 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 


text:
 Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Go; your son will live.&amp;quot; The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 


text:
 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, &amp;quot;Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, &amp;quot;Your son will live.&amp;quot; And he himself believed, and all his household. 


text:
 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 


text:
 In these lay a multitude of invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed [waiting for the moving of the water;] 


text:
 [for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.] 


text:
 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, &amp;quot;Do you want to be healed?&amp;quot; 


text:
 The sick man answered him, &amp;quot;Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, &amp;quot;It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But he answered them, &amp;quot;The man who healed me, that man said to me, &amp;apos;Take up your bed, and walk.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 They asked him, &amp;quot;Who is the man who said to you, &amp;apos;Take up your bed and walk&amp;apos;?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 


text:
 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, &amp;quot;See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 


text:
 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 


text:
 So Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 


text:
 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 


text:
 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 


text:
 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 


text:
 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 


text:
 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 


text:
 &amp;quot;I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 


text:
 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 


text:
 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 


text:
 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 


text:
 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 


text:
 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 


text:
 I have come in my Father&amp;apos;s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 


text:
 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 


text:
 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 


text:
 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, &amp;quot;Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Philip answered him, &amp;quot;Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said, &amp;quot;Have the people sit down.&amp;quot; Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 


text:
 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 


text:
 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, &amp;quot;Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 


text:
 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, &amp;quot;This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!&amp;quot; 


text:
 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 


text:
 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 


text:
 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 


text:
 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 


text:
 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 


text:
 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 


text:
 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 


text:
 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, when did you come here?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 


text:
 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So they said to him, &amp;quot;Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 


text:
 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, &amp;apos;He gave them bread from heaven to eat.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus then said to them, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 


text:
 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 


text:
 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, &amp;quot;I am the bread that came down from heaven.&amp;quot; 


text:
 They said, &amp;quot;Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, &amp;apos;I have come down from heaven&amp;apos;?&amp;quot; 


text:
 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 


text:
 It is written in the Prophets, &amp;apos;And they will all be taught by God.&amp;apos; Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- 


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


text:
 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, &amp;quot;How can this man give us his flesh to eat?&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 


text:
 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 


text:
 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 


text:
 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, &amp;quot;This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, &amp;quot;Do you take offense at this? 


text:
 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 


text:
 But there are some of you who do not believe.&amp;quot; (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Simon Peter answered him, &amp;quot;Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 


text:
 So his brothers said to him, &amp;quot;Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 


text:
 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.&amp;quot; 


text:
 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 


text:
 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, &amp;quot;He is a good man,&amp;quot; others said, &amp;quot;No, he is leading the people astray.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, &amp;quot;How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?&amp;quot; 


text:
 If anyone&amp;apos;s will is to do God&amp;apos;s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 


text:
 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 


text:
 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 


text:
 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man&amp;apos;s whole body well? 


text:
 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, &amp;quot;Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 


text:
 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 


text:
 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, &amp;quot;You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. 


text:
 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 


text:
 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, &amp;quot;When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 


text:
 Jesus then said, &amp;quot;I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 


text:
 The Jews said to one another, &amp;quot;Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 


text:
 What does he mean by saying, &amp;apos;You will seek me and you will not find me,&amp;apos; and, &amp;apos;Where I am you cannot come&amp;apos;?&amp;quot; 


text:
 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, &amp;quot;If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 


text:
 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, &amp;apos;Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 


text:
 When they heard these words, some of the people said, &amp;quot;This really is the Prophet.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Others said, &amp;quot;This is the Christ.&amp;quot; But some said, &amp;quot;Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 


text:
 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?&amp;quot; 


text:
 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, &amp;quot;Why did you not bring him?&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?&amp;quot; 


text:
 They replied, &amp;quot;Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 


text:
 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 


text:
 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 


text:
 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, &amp;quot;Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 


text:
 Jesus stood up and said to her, &amp;quot;Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 She said, &amp;quot;No one, Lord.&amp;quot; And Jesus said, &amp;quot;Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.&amp;quot;]] 


text:
 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, &amp;quot;I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the Pharisees said to him, &amp;quot;You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 


text:
 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 


text:
 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 They said to him therefore, &amp;quot;Where is your Father?&amp;quot; Jesus answered, &amp;quot;You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.&amp;quot; 


text:
 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 


text:
 So he said to them again, &amp;quot;I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the Jews said, &amp;quot;Will he kill himself, since he says, &amp;apos;Where I am going, you cannot come&amp;apos;?&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 


text:
 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So they said to him, &amp;quot;Who are you?&amp;quot; Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 


text:
 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 


text:
 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, &amp;quot;If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 


text:
 They answered him, &amp;quot;We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, &amp;apos;You will become free&amp;apos;?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 


text:
 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 


text:
 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.&amp;quot; 


text:
 They answered him, &amp;quot;Abraham is our father.&amp;quot; Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;If you were Abraham&amp;apos;s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 


text:
 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 


text:
 You are doing the works your father did.&amp;quot; They said to him, &amp;quot;We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father--even God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 


text:
 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father&amp;apos;s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 


text:
 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Jews answered him, &amp;quot;Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Jews said to him, &amp;quot;Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, &amp;apos;If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, &amp;apos;He is our God.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 


text:
 So the Jews said to him, &amp;quot;You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And his disciples asked him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 


text:
 Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man&amp;apos;s eyes with the mud 


text:
 and said to him, &amp;quot;Go, wash in the pool of Siloam&amp;quot; (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 


text:
 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, &amp;quot;Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Some said, &amp;quot;It is he.&amp;quot; Others said, &amp;quot;No, but he is like him.&amp;quot; He kept saying, &amp;quot;I am the man.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He answered, &amp;quot;The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, &amp;apos;Go to Siloam and wash.&amp;apos; So I went and washed and received my sight.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, &amp;quot;He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Some of the Pharisees said, &amp;quot;This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.&amp;quot; But others said, &amp;quot;How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?&amp;quot; And there was a division among them. 


text:
 So they said again to the blind man, &amp;quot;What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?&amp;quot; He said, &amp;quot;He is a prophet.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 


text:
 and asked them, &amp;quot;Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?&amp;quot; 


text:
 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.&amp;quot; 


text:
 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 


text:
 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, &amp;quot;Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He answered, &amp;quot;Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He answered them, &amp;quot;I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?&amp;quot; 


text:
 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The man answered, &amp;quot;Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 


text:
 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 


text:
 They answered him, &amp;quot;You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?&amp;quot; And they cast him out. 


text:
 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, &amp;quot;Do you believe in the Son of Man?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said, &amp;quot;For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, &amp;quot;Are we also blind?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, &amp;apos;We see,&amp;apos; your guilt remains. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 


text:
 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 


text:
 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 


text:
 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.&amp;quot; 


text:
 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 


text:
 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 


text:
 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 


text:
 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 


text:
 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Others said, &amp;quot;These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, &amp;quot;How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father&amp;apos;s name bear witness about me, 


text:
 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father&amp;apos;s hand. 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Jews answered him, &amp;quot;It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered them, &amp;quot;Is it not written in your Law, &amp;apos;I said, you are gods&amp;apos;? 


text:
 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, &amp;apos;You are blaspheming,&amp;apos; because I said, &amp;apos;I am the Son of God&amp;apos;? 


text:
 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.&amp;quot; 


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


text:
 And many came to him. And they said, &amp;quot;John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.&amp;quot; 


text:
 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 


text:
 But when Jesus heard it he said, &amp;quot;This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The disciples said to him, &amp;quot;Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 


text:
 After saying these things, he said to them, &amp;quot;Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, &amp;quot;Let us also go, that we may die with him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 


text:
 Martha said to him, &amp;quot;I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 


text:
 She said to him, &amp;quot;Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, &amp;quot;The Teacher is here and is calling for you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 


text:
 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, &amp;quot;Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;Where have you laid him?&amp;quot; They said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, come and see.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But some of them said, &amp;quot;Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said, &amp;quot;Take away the stone.&amp;quot; Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?&amp;quot; 


text:
 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, &amp;quot;Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 


text:
 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, &amp;quot;Lazarus, come out.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Unbind him, and let him go.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, &amp;quot;What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 


text:
 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, &amp;quot;You know nothing at all. 


text:
 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 


text:
 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 


text:
 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. 


text:
 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 


text:
 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, &amp;quot;What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him. 


text:
 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 


text:
 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 


text:
 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 


text:
 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 


text:
 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, &amp;quot;Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey&amp;apos;s colt!&amp;quot; 


text:
 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 


text:
 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 


text:
 So the Pharisees said to one another, &amp;quot;You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, &amp;quot;Sir, we wish to see Jesus.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 


text:
 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 


text:
 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? &amp;apos;Father, save me from this hour&amp;apos;? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 


text:
 Father, glorify your name.&amp;quot; Then a voice came from heaven: &amp;quot;I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, &amp;quot;An angel has spoken to him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the crowd answered him, &amp;quot;We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 


text:
 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.&amp;quot; When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 


text:
 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: &amp;quot;Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 


text:
 And Jesus cried out and said, &amp;quot;Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 


text:
 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 


text:
 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 


text:
 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment--what to say and what to speak. 


text:
 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 


text:
 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon&amp;apos;s son, to betray him, 


text:
 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 


text:
 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples&amp;apos; feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Peter said to him, &amp;quot;You shall never wash my feet.&amp;quot; Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Simon Peter said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, &amp;quot;Not all of you are clean.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, &amp;quot;Do you understand what I have done to you? 


text:
 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another&amp;apos;s feet. 


text:
 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 


text:
 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, &amp;apos;He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.&amp;apos; 


text:
 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 


text:
 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.&amp;quot; So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 


text:
 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;What you are going to do, do quickly.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, &amp;quot;Buy what we need for the feast,&amp;quot; or that he should give something to the poor. 


text:
 When he had gone out, Jesus said, &amp;quot;Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 


text:
 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, &amp;apos;Where I am going you cannot come.&amp;apos; 


text:
 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 


text:
 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Simon Peter said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, where are you going?&amp;quot; Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Peter said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. 


text:
 In my Father&amp;apos;s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 


text:
 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 


text:
 Thomas said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 


text:
 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, &amp;apos;Show us the Father&amp;apos;? 


text:
 Do you not believe 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 authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 


text:
 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 


text:
 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 


text:
 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 


text:
 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 


text:
 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father&amp;apos;s who sent me. 


text:
 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 


text:
 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 


text:
 You heard me say to you, &amp;apos;I am going away, and I will come to you.&amp;apos; If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 


text:
 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 


text:
 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. 


text:
 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 


text:
 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 


text:
 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 


text:
 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 


text:
 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 


text:
 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father&amp;apos;s commandments and abide in his love. 


text:
 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 


text:
 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 


text:
 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 


text:
 Remember the word that I said to you: &amp;apos;A servant is not greater than his master.&amp;apos; If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 


text:
 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 


text:
 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 


text:
 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 


text:
 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: &amp;apos;They hated me without a cause.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;quot;But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 


text:
 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 


text:
 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. &amp;quot;I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 


text:
 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, &amp;apos;Where are you going?&amp;apos; 


text:
 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 


text:
 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 


text:
 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 


text:
 &amp;quot;A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So some of his disciples said to one another, &amp;quot;What is this that he says to us, &amp;apos;A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me&amp;apos;; and, &amp;apos;because I am going to the Father&amp;apos;?&amp;quot; 


text:
 So they were saying, &amp;quot;What does he mean by &amp;apos;a little while&amp;apos;? We do not know what he is talking about.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, &amp;quot;Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, &amp;apos;A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me&amp;apos;? 


text:
 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 


text:
 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 


text:
 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 


text:
 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 


text:
 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 


text:
 &amp;quot;I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 


text:
 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 


text:
 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 


text:
 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 


text:
 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, &amp;quot;Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 


text:
 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 


text:
 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 


text:
 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 


text:
 &amp;quot;I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 


text:
 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 


text:
 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 


text:
 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 


text:
 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 


text:
 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 


text:
 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 


text:
 &amp;quot;I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 


text:
 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 


text:
 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 


text:
 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 


text:
 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 


text:
 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 


text:
 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 


text:
 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, &amp;quot;Whom do you seek?&amp;quot; 


text:
 They answered him, &amp;quot;Jesus of Nazareth.&amp;quot; Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;I am he.&amp;quot; Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 


text:
 So he asked them again, &amp;quot;Whom do you seek?&amp;quot; And they said, &amp;quot;Jesus of Nazareth.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.&amp;quot; 


text:
 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: &amp;quot;Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest&amp;apos;s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant&amp;apos;s name was Malchus.) 


text:
 So Jesus said to Peter, &amp;quot;Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 


text:
 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 


text:
 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. 


text:
 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, 


text:
 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 


text:
 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, &amp;quot;You also are not one of this man&amp;apos;s disciples, are you?&amp;quot; He said, &amp;quot;I am not.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 


text:
 Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, &amp;quot;Is that how you answer the high priest?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, &amp;quot;You also are not one of his disciples, are you?&amp;quot; He denied it and said, &amp;quot;I am not.&amp;quot; 


text:
 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, &amp;quot;Did I not see you in the garden with him?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor&amp;apos;s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor&amp;apos;s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 


text:
 So Pilate went outside to them and said, &amp;quot;What accusation do you bring against this man?&amp;quot; 


text:
 They answered him, &amp;quot;If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Pilate said to them, &amp;quot;Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.&amp;quot; The Jews said to him, &amp;quot;It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.&amp;quot; 


text:
 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 


text:
 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, &amp;quot;Are you the King of the Jews?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Pilate answered, &amp;quot;Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered, &amp;quot;My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Pilate said to him, &amp;quot;So you are a king?&amp;quot; Jesus answered, &amp;quot;You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world--to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Pilate said to him, &amp;quot;What is truth?&amp;quot; After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, &amp;quot;I find no guilt in him. 


text:
 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 


text:
 They came up to him, saying, &amp;quot;Hail, King of the Jews!&amp;quot; and struck him with their hands. 


text:
 Pilate went out again and said to them, &amp;quot;See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, &amp;quot;Behold the man!&amp;quot; 


text:
 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, &amp;quot;Crucify him, crucify him!&amp;quot; Pilate said to them, &amp;quot;Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The Jews answered him, &amp;quot;We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, &amp;quot;Where are you from?&amp;quot; But Jesus gave him no answer. 


text:
 So Pilate said to him, &amp;quot;You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus answered him, &amp;quot;You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.&amp;quot; 


text:
 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, &amp;quot;If you release this man, you are not Caesar&amp;apos;s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 


text:
 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, &amp;quot;Behold your King!&amp;quot; 


text:
 They cried out, &amp;quot;Away with him, away with him, crucify him!&amp;quot; Pilate said to them, &amp;quot;Shall I crucify your King?&amp;quot; The chief priests answered, &amp;quot;We have no king but Caesar.&amp;quot; 


text:
 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 


text:
 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, &amp;quot;Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 


text:
 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, &amp;quot;Do not write, &amp;apos;The King of the Jews,&amp;apos; but rather, &amp;apos;This man said, I am King of the Jews.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 


text:
 so they said to one another, &amp;quot;Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.&amp;quot; This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, &amp;quot;They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.&amp;quot; So the soldiers did these things, 


text:
 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother&amp;apos;s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 


text:
 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, &amp;quot;Woman, behold, your son!&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then he said to the disciple, &amp;quot;Behold, your mother!&amp;quot; And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. 


text:
 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), &amp;quot;I thirst.&amp;quot; 


text:
 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 


text:
 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, &amp;quot;It is finished,&amp;quot; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 


text:
 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 


text:
 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 


text:
 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 


text:
 He who saw it has borne witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth--that you also may believe. 


text:
 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: &amp;quot;Not one of his bones will be broken.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And again another Scripture says, &amp;quot;They will look on him whom they have pierced.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 


text:
 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 


text:
 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 


text:
 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 


text:
 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. 


text:
 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 


text:
 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, &amp;quot;They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 


text:
 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 


text:
 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus&amp;apos; head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 


text:
 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 


text:
 They said to her, &amp;quot;Woman, why are you weeping?&amp;quot; She said to them, &amp;quot;They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 


text:
 Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?&amp;quot; Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, &amp;quot;Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;Mary.&amp;quot; She turned and said to him in Aramaic, &amp;quot;Rabboni!&amp;quot; (which means Teacher). 


text:
 Jesus said to her, &amp;quot;Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, &amp;apos;I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, &amp;quot;I have seen the Lord&amp;quot;--and that he had said these things to her. 


text:
 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, &amp;quot;Peace be with you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 


text:
 Jesus said to them again, &amp;quot;Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, &amp;quot;Receive the Holy Spirit. 


text:
 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the other disciples told him, &amp;quot;We have seen the Lord.&amp;quot; But he said to them, &amp;quot;Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, &amp;quot;Peace be with you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then he said to Thomas, &amp;quot;Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 


text:
 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 


text:
 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 


text:
 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 


text:
 Simon Peter said to them, &amp;quot;I am going fishing.&amp;quot; They said to him, &amp;quot;We will go with you.&amp;quot; They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 


text:
 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Children, do you have any fish?&amp;quot; They answered him, &amp;quot;No.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.&amp;quot; So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 


text:
 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, &amp;quot;It is the Lord!&amp;quot; When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 


text:
 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 


text:
 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 


text:
 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 


text:
 Jesus said to them, &amp;quot;Come and have breakfast.&amp;quot; Now none of the disciples dared ask him, &amp;quot;Who are you?&amp;quot; They knew it was the Lord. 


text:
 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 


text:
 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, &amp;quot;Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?&amp;quot; He said to him, &amp;quot;Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.&amp;quot; He said to him, &amp;quot;Feed my lambs.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to him a second time, &amp;quot;Simon, son of John, do you love me?&amp;quot; He said to him, &amp;quot;Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.&amp;quot; He said to him, &amp;quot;Tend my sheep.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to him the third time, &amp;quot;Simon, son of John, do you love me?&amp;quot; Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, &amp;quot;Do you love me?&amp;quot; and he said to him, &amp;quot;Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.&amp;quot; Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;Feed my sheep. 


text:
 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.&amp;quot; 


text:
 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, &amp;quot;Follow me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, &amp;quot;Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Jesus said to him, &amp;quot;If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, &amp;quot;If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 


text:
 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. 


text:
 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 


text:
 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 


text:
 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, &amp;quot;you heard from me; 


text:
 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So when they had come together, they asked him, &amp;quot;Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?&amp;quot; 


text:
 He said to them, &amp;quot;It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 


text:
 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 


text:
 and said, &amp;quot;Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day&amp;apos;s journey away. 


text:
 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 


text:
 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 


text:
 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 


text:
 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 


text:
 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 


text:
 &amp;quot;For it is written in the Book of Psalms, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it&amp;apos;; and &amp;quot;&amp;apos;Let another take his office.&amp;apos; 


text:
 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 


text:
 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they prayed and said, &amp;quot;You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 


text:
 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. 


text:
 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 


text:
 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 


text:
 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 


text:
 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, &amp;quot;Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 


text:
 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 


text:
 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians--we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, &amp;quot;What does this mean?&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: &amp;quot;Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 


text:
 &amp;quot;&amp;apos;And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 


text:
 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 


text:
 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 


text:
 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 


text:
 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- 


text:
 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 


text:
 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 


text:
 For David says concerning him, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 


text:
 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 


text:
 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 


text:
 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 


text:
 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 


text:
 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, 


text:
 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, &amp;quot;Brothers, what shall we do?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Peter said to them, &amp;quot;Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 


text:
 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, &amp;quot;Save yourselves from this crooked generation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 


text:
 And they devoted themselves to the apostles&amp;apos; teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 


text:
 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 


text:
 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 


text:
 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 


text:
 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 


text:
 But Peter said, &amp;quot;I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 


text:
 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 


text:
 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 


text:
 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon&amp;apos;s. 


text:
 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: &amp;quot;Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 


text:
 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 


text:
 And his name--by faith in his name--has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. 


text:
 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 


text:
 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 


text:
 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 


text:
 Moses said, &amp;apos;The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 


text:
 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 


text:
 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, &amp;apos;And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.&amp;apos; 


text:
 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 


text:
 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 


text:
 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 


text:
 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 


text:
 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, &amp;quot;By what power or by what name did you do this?&amp;quot; 


text:
 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 


text:
 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. 


text:
 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 


text:
 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Peter and John answered them, &amp;quot;Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 


text:
 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 


text:
 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 


text:
 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, &amp;quot;Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 


text:
 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 


text:
 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed&amp;apos;-- 


text:
 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 


text:
 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 


text:
 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. 


text:
 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 


text:
 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 


text:
 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 


text:
 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 


text:
 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles&amp;apos; feet. 


text:
 and with his wife&amp;apos;s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles&amp;apos; feet. 


text:
 But Peter said, &amp;quot;Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 


text:
 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 


text:
 And Peter said to her, &amp;quot;Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.&amp;quot; And she said, &amp;quot;Yes, for so much.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Peter said to her, &amp;quot;How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 


text:
 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon&amp;apos;s Portico. 


text:
 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 


text:
 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 


text:
 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 


text:
 &amp;quot;Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. 


text:
 &amp;quot;We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 


text:
 And someone came and told them, &amp;quot;Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 


text:
 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man&amp;apos;s blood upon us.&amp;quot; 


text:
 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 


text:
 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 


text:
 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 


text:
 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 


text:
 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 


text:
 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!&amp;quot; So they took his advice, 


text:
 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 


text:
 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 


text:
 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. 


text:
 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 


text:
 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, &amp;quot;It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 


text:
 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 


text:
 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 


text:
 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 


text:
 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 


text:
 Then they secretly instigated men who said, &amp;quot;We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 


text:
 and they set up false witnesses who said, &amp;quot;This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 


text:
 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Stephen said: &amp;quot;Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 


text:
 and said to him, &amp;apos;Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 


text:
 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot&amp;apos;s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 


text:
 And God spoke to this effect--that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 


text:
 &amp;apos;But I will judge the nation that they serve,&amp;apos; said God, &amp;apos;and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 


text:
 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 


text:
 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 


text:
 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph&amp;apos;s family became known to Pharaoh. 


text:
 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. 


text:
 &amp;quot;But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 


text:
 He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 


text:
 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God&amp;apos;s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father&amp;apos;s house, 


text:
 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh&amp;apos;s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 


text:
 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 


text:
 &amp;quot;When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 


text:
 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 


text:
 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 


text:
 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, &amp;apos;Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?&amp;apos; 


text:
 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, &amp;apos;Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 


text:
 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 


text:
 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 


text:
 &amp;apos;I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.&amp;apos; And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 


text:
 Then the Lord said to him, &amp;apos;Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 


text:
 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;quot;This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, &amp;apos;Who made you a ruler and a judge?&amp;apos;--this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 


text:
 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 


text:
 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, &amp;apos;God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.&amp;apos; 


text:
 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 


text:
 saying to Aaron, &amp;apos;Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 


text:
 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: &amp;quot;&amp;apos;Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 


text:
 You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 


text:
 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 


text:
 &amp;quot;&amp;apos;Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 


text:
 &amp;quot;You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 


text:
 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 


text:
 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 


text:
 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, &amp;quot;Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, &amp;quot;Lord, do not hold this sin against them.&amp;quot; And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 


text:
 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 


text:
 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 


text:
 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 


text:
 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 


text:
 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 


text:
 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, &amp;quot;This man is the power of God that is called Great.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 


text:
 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. 


text:
 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 


text:
 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 


text:
 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles&amp;apos; hands, he offered them money, 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Peter said to him, &amp;quot;May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 


text:
 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 


text:
 And Simon answered, &amp;quot;Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 


text:
 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, &amp;quot;Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.&amp;quot; This is a desert place. 


text:
 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 


text:
 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, &amp;quot;Do you understand what you are reading?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;How can I, unless someone guides me?&amp;quot; And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 


text:
 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: &amp;quot;Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 


text:
 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the eunuch said to Philip, &amp;quot;About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 


text:
 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, &amp;quot;See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?&amp;quot; 


text:
 [And Philip said, &amp;quot;If you believe with all your heart, you may.&amp;quot; And he replied, &amp;quot;I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.&amp;quot;] 


text:
 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 


text:
 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 


text:
 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. 


text:
 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 


text:
 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 


text:
 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 


text:
 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, &amp;quot;Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;Who are you, Lord?&amp;quot; And he said, &amp;quot;I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 


text:
 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 


text:
 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, &amp;quot;Ananias.&amp;quot; And he said, &amp;quot;Here I am, Lord.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the Lord said to him, &amp;quot;Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 


text:
 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Ananias answered, &amp;quot;Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 


text:
 But the Lord said to him, &amp;quot;Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 


text:
 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, &amp;quot;Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 


text:
 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, &amp;quot;He is the Son of God.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And all who heard him were amazed and said, &amp;quot;Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. 


text:
 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 


text:
 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. 


text:
 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 


text:
 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 


text:
 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. 


text:
 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 


text:
 And Peter said to him, &amp;quot;Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.&amp;quot; And immediately he rose. 


text:
 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. 


text:
 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 


text:
 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, &amp;quot;Please come to us without delay.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 


text:
 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, &amp;quot;Tabitha, arise.&amp;quot; And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 


text:
 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 


text:
 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 


text:
 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, &amp;quot;Cornelius.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he stared at him in terror and said, &amp;quot;What is it, Lord?&amp;quot; And he said to him, &amp;quot;Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 


text:
 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 


text:
 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 


text:
 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 


text:
 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 


text:
 But Peter said, &amp;quot;By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the voice came to him again a second time, &amp;quot;What God has made clean, do not call common.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon&amp;apos;s house, stood at the gate 


text:
 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, &amp;quot;Behold, three men are looking for you. 


text:
 And Peter went down to the men and said, &amp;quot;I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they said, &amp;quot;Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 


text:
 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 


text:
 And Cornelius said, &amp;quot;Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 


text:
 and said, &amp;apos;Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 


text:
 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.&amp;apos; 


text:
 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.&amp;quot; 


text:
 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 


text:
 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 


text:
 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 


text:
 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 


text:
 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 


text:
 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 


text:
 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 


text:
 &amp;quot;Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. 


text:
 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 


text:
 &amp;quot;I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 


text:
 But I said, &amp;apos;By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.&amp;apos; 


text:
 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, &amp;apos;What God has made clean, do not call common.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 


text:
 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man&amp;apos;s house. 


text:
 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, &amp;apos;Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 


text:
 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, &amp;apos;John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.&amp;apos; 


text:
 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God&amp;apos;s way?&amp;quot; 


text:
 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, &amp;quot;Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 


text:
 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 


text:
 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 


text:
 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 


text:
 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 


text:
 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. 


text:
 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 


text:
 So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 


text:
 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 


text:
 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 


text:
 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 


text:
 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, &amp;quot;Get up quickly.&amp;quot; And the chains fell off his hands. 


text:
 And the angel said to him, &amp;quot;Dress yourself and put on your sandals.&amp;quot; And he did so. And he said to him, &amp;quot;Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 


text:
 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 


text:
 When Peter came to himself, he said, &amp;quot;Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 


text:
 Recognizing Peter&amp;apos;s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 


text:
 They said to her, &amp;quot;You are out of your mind.&amp;quot; But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, &amp;quot;It is his angel!&amp;quot; 


text:
 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, &amp;quot;Tell these things to James and to the brothers.&amp;quot; Then he departed and went to another place. 


text:
 Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 


text:
 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there. 


text:
 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king&amp;apos;s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king&amp;apos;s country for food. 


text:
 On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. 


text:
 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. 


text:
 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. 


text:
 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 


text:
 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, &amp;quot;Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 


text:
 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 


text:
 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 


text:
 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 


text:
 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 


text:
 and said, &amp;quot;You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 


text:
 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.&amp;quot; Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 


text:
 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. 


text:
 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 


text:
 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 


text:
 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, &amp;quot;Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: &amp;quot;Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 


text:
 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 


text:
 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 


text:
 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 


text:
 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, &amp;apos;I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And as John was finishing his course, he said, &amp;apos;What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.&amp;apos; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 


text:
 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 


text:
 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 


text:
 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 


text:
 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;You are my Son, today I have begotten you.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Therefore he says also in another psalm, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;You will not let your Holy One see corruption.&amp;apos; 


text:
 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 


text:
 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 


text:
 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 


text:
 &amp;quot;&amp;apos;Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. 


text:
 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 


text:
 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, &amp;quot;It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 


text:
 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 


text:
 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 


text:
 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 


text:
 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 


text:
 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 


text:
 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 


text:
 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 


text:
 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 


text:
 said in a loud voice, &amp;quot;Stand upright on your feet.&amp;quot; And he sprang up and began walking. 


text:
 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, &amp;quot;The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 


text:
 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 


text:
 &amp;quot;Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 


text:
 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 


text:
 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 


text:
 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 


text:
 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 


text:
 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 


text:
 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 


text:
 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 


text:
 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, &amp;quot;Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 


text:
 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 


text:
 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 


text:
 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, &amp;quot;It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, &amp;quot;Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 


text:
 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 


text:
 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 


text:
 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 


text:
 &amp;quot;&amp;apos;After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 


text:
 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 


text:
 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 


text:
 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 


text:
 with the following letter: &amp;quot;The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 


text:
 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 


text:
 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 


text:
 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 


text:
 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 


text:
 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 


text:
 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 


text:
 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 


text:
 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. 


text:
 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, &amp;quot;Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 


text:
 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 


text:
 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 


text:
 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 


text:
 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 


text:
 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 


text:
 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 


text:
 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 


text:
 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, &amp;quot;Come over to Macedonia and help us.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 


text:
 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 


text:
 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 


text:
 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 


text:
 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 


text:
 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, &amp;quot;If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.&amp;quot; And she prevailed upon us. 


text:
 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 


text:
 She followed Paul and us, crying out, &amp;quot;These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, &amp;quot;I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.&amp;quot; And it came out that very hour. 


text:
 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 


text:
 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, &amp;quot;These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 


text:
 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 


text:
 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 


text:
 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 


text:
 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 


text:
 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone&amp;apos;s bonds were unfastened. 


text:
 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 


text:
 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 


text:
 And they said, &amp;quot;Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 


text:
 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. 


text:
 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, &amp;quot;Let those men go.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, &amp;quot;The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Paul said to them, &amp;quot;They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 


text:
 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. 


text:
 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 


text:
 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 


text:
 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, &amp;quot;This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 


text:
 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 


text:
 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, &amp;quot;These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 


text:
 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 


text:
 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 


text:
 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 


text:
 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 


text:
 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. 


text:
 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 


text:
 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 


text:
 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, &amp;quot;What does this babbler wish to say?&amp;quot; Others said, &amp;quot;He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities&amp;quot;--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 


text:
 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, &amp;quot;May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 


text:
 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 


text:
 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: &amp;quot;Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 


text:
 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, &amp;apos;To the unknown god.&amp;apos; What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 


text:
 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 


text:
 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 


text:
 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 


text:
 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 


text:
 for &amp;quot;&amp;apos;In him we live and move and have our being&amp;apos;; as even some of your own poets have said, &amp;quot;&amp;apos;For we are indeed his offspring.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Being then God&amp;apos;s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 


text:
 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, &amp;quot;We will hear you again about this.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. 


text:
 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 


text:
 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 


text:
 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 


text:
 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, &amp;quot;Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 


text:
 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 


text:
 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, &amp;quot;Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 


text:
 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 


text:
 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, &amp;quot;If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 


text:
 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this. 


text:
 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 


text:
 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 


text:
 But on taking leave of them he said, &amp;quot;I will return to you if God wills,&amp;quot; and he set sail from Ephesus. 


text:
 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. 


text:
 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 


text:
 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 


text:
 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 


text:
 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 


text:
 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. 


text:
 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 


text:
 And he said to them, &amp;quot;Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?&amp;quot; And they said, &amp;quot;No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;Into what then were you baptized?&amp;quot; They said, &amp;quot;Into John&amp;apos;s baptism.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Paul said, &amp;quot;John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 


text:
 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 


text:
 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 


text:
 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 


text:
 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 


text:
 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, &amp;quot;I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But the evil spirit answered them, &amp;quot;Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 


text:
 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 


text:
 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 


text:
 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, &amp;quot;After I have been there, I must also see Rome.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 


text:
 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 


text:
 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, &amp;quot;Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 


text:
 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 


text:
 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, &amp;quot;Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul&amp;apos;s companions in travel. 


text:
 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 


text:
 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 


text:
 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 


text:
 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, &amp;quot;Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, &amp;quot;Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 


text:
 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 


text:
 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 


text:
 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 


text:
 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 


text:
 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. 


text:
 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 


text:
 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 


text:
 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, &amp;quot;Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 


text:
 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 


text:
 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. 


text:
 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. 


text:
 And when they came to him, he said to them: &amp;quot;You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 


text:
 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 


text:
 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 


text:
 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 


text:
 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 


text:
 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 


text:
 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 


text:
 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 


text:
 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 


text:
 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 


text:
 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. 


text:
 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 


text:
 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, &amp;apos;It is more blessed to give than to receive.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. 


text:
 And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 


text:
 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 


text:
 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 


text:
 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 


text:
 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. 


text:
 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 


text:
 And coming to us, he took Paul&amp;apos;s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, &amp;quot;Thus says the Holy Spirit, &amp;apos;This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Paul answered, &amp;quot;What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, &amp;quot;Let the will of the Lord be done.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge. 


text:
 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 


text:
 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, &amp;quot;You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 


text:
 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 


text:
 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 


text:
 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them. 


text:
 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 


text:
 crying out, &amp;quot;Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.&amp;quot; 


text:
 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 


text:
 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 


text:
 And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 


text:
 He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 


text:
 Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 


text:
 Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 


text:
 And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 


text:
 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, &amp;quot;May I say something to you?&amp;quot; And he said, &amp;quot;Do you know Greek? 


text:
 Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?&amp;quot; 


text:
 Paul replied, &amp;quot;I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: 


text:
 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said: 


text:
 &amp;quot;I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 


text:
 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. 


text:
 &amp;quot;As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 


text:
 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, &amp;apos;Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?&amp;apos; 


text:
 And I answered, &amp;apos;Who are you, Lord?&amp;apos; And he said to me, &amp;apos;I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 


text:
 And I said, &amp;apos;What shall I do, Lord?&amp;apos; And the Lord said to me, &amp;apos;Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. 


text:
 &amp;quot;And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 


text:
 came to me, and standing by me said to me, &amp;apos;Brother Saul, receive your sight.&amp;apos; And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 


text:
 And he said, &amp;apos;The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 


text:
 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.&amp;apos; 


text:
 and saw him saying to me, &amp;apos;Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And I said, &amp;apos;Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 


text:
 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And he said to me, &amp;apos;Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, &amp;quot;Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.&amp;quot; 


text:
 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 


text:
 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, &amp;quot;Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?&amp;quot; 


text:
 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, &amp;quot;What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the tribune came and said to him, &amp;quot;Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?&amp;quot; And he said, &amp;quot;Yes.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The tribune answered, &amp;quot;I bought this citizenship for a large sum.&amp;quot; Paul said, &amp;quot;But I am a citizen by birth.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him. 


text:
 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. 


text:
 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, &amp;quot;Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Paul said to him, &amp;quot;God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Paul said, &amp;quot;I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, &amp;apos;You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, &amp;quot;Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 


text:
 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 


text:
 Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees&amp;apos; party stood up and contended sharply, &amp;quot;We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks. 


text:
 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, &amp;quot;Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 


text:
 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, &amp;quot;We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. 


text:
 Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now the son of Paul&amp;apos;s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 


text:
 Paul called one of the centurions and said, &amp;quot;Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, &amp;quot;Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, &amp;quot;What is it that you have to tell me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And he said, &amp;quot;The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. 


text:
 But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, &amp;quot;Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then he called two of the centurions and said, &amp;quot;Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. 


text:
 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. 


text:
 And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 


text:
 I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 


text:
 And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 


text:
 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 


text:
 On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, 


text:
 he said, &amp;quot;I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.&amp;quot; And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod&amp;apos;s praetorium. 


text:
 And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul. 


text:
 And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: &amp;quot;Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, 


text:
 For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. 


text:
 He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him [and we would have judged him according to our law.] 


text:
 [commanding his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied: &amp;quot;Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. 


text:
 and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. 


text:
 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 


text:
 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. 


text:
 While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia-- 


text:
 other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: &amp;apos;It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.&amp;apos;&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, &amp;quot;When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. 


text:
 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 


text:
 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, &amp;quot;Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. 


text:
 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. 


text:
 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 


text:
 asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem--because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. 


text:
 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 


text:
 &amp;quot;So,&amp;quot; said he, &amp;quot;let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 


text:
 When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove. 


text:
 Paul argued in his defense, &amp;quot;Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, &amp;quot;Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Paul said, &amp;quot;I am standing before Caesar&amp;apos;s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. 


text:
 If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, &amp;quot;To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. 


text:
 And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul&amp;apos;s case before the king, saying, &amp;quot;There is a man left prisoner by Felix, 


text:
 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 


text:
 I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. 


text:
 So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. 


text:
 Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. 


text:
 Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. 


text:
 But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Then Agrippa said to Festus, &amp;quot;I would like to hear the man myself.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Tomorrow,&amp;quot; said he, &amp;quot;you will hear him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 


text:
 And Festus said, &amp;quot;King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 


text:
 But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. 


text:
 But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. 


text:
 For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.&amp;quot; 


text:
 So Agrippa said to Paul, &amp;quot;You have permission to speak for yourself.&amp;quot; Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: 


text:
 &amp;quot;I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 


text:
 especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. 


text:
 &amp;quot;My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 


text:
 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. 


text:
 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 


text:
 &amp;quot;I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 


text:
 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 


text:
 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 


text:
 &amp;quot;In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 


text:
 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 


text:
 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, &amp;apos;Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.&amp;apos; 


text:
 And I said, &amp;apos;Who are you, Lord?&amp;apos; And the Lord said, &amp;apos;I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 


text:
 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 


text:
 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.&amp;apos; 


text:
 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 


text:
 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 


text:
 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, &amp;quot;Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But Paul said, &amp;quot;I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 


text:
 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 


text:
 And Agrippa said to Paul, &amp;quot;In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Paul said, &amp;quot;Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am--except for these chains.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, &amp;quot;This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And Agrippa said to Festus, &amp;quot;This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 


text:
 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 


text:
 The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. 


text:
 And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 


text:
 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 


text:
 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 


text:
 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. 


text:
 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 


text:
 saying, &amp;quot;Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 


text:
 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there. 


text:
 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 


text:
 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 


text:
 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship&amp;apos;s boat. 


text:
 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 


text:
 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. 


text:
 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, &amp;quot;Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 


text:
 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 


text:
 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 


text:
 and he said, &amp;apos;Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.&amp;apos; 


text:
 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 


text:
 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. 


text:
 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 


text:
 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship&amp;apos;s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 


text:
 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, &amp;quot;Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.&amp;quot; 


text:
 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, &amp;quot;Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 


text:
 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 


text:
 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 


text:
 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 


text:
 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 


text:
 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 


text:
 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land. 


text:
 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 


text:
 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 


text:
 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, &amp;quot;No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.&amp;quot; 


text:
 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. 


text:
 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 


text:
 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. 


text:
 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 


text:
 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. 


text:
 After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. 


text:
 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 


text:
 There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 


text:
 And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. 


text:
 And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him. 


text:
 After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, &amp;quot;Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 


text:
 When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 


text:
 But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar--though I had no charge to bring against my nation. 


text:
 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And they said to him, &amp;quot;We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. 


text:
 But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.&amp;quot; 


text:
 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 


text:
 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: &amp;quot;The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 


text:
 &amp;quot;&amp;apos;Go to this people, and say, You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 


text:
 For this people&amp;apos;s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.&amp;apos; 


text:
 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.&amp;quot; 


text:
 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. 


text:
 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 


text:
 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 


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 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 


text:
 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 


text:
 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 


text:
 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God&amp;apos;s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 


text:
 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 


text:
 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 


text:
 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, &amp;quot;The righteous shall live by faith.&amp;quot; 


text:
 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 


text:
 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 


text:
 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 


text:
 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 


text:
 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 


text:
 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 


text:
 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 


text:
 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 


text:
 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 


text:
 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 


text:
 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 


text:
 Though they know God&amp;apos;s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. 


text:
 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 


text:
 Do you suppose, O man--you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself--that you will escape the judgment of God? 


text:
 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God&amp;apos;s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 


text:
 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God&amp;apos;s righteous judgment will be revealed. 


text:
 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 


text:
 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 


text:
 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 


text:
 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 


text:
 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 


text:
 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 


text:
 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 


text:
 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 


text:
 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- 


text:
 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 


text:
 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 


text:
 For, as it is written, &amp;quot;The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.&amp;quot; 


text:
 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 


text:
 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 


text:
 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 


text:
 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. 


text:
 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, &amp;quot;That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 


text:
 But if through my lie God&amp;apos;s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 


text:
 And why not do evil that good may come?--as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. 


text:
 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 


text:
 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.&amp;quot; 


text:
 &amp;quot;Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;The venom of asps is under their lips.&amp;quot; 


text:
 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 


text:
 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 


text:
 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- 


text:
 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 


text:
 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God&amp;apos;s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 


text:
 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 


text:
 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 


text:
 For what does the Scripture say? &amp;quot;Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.&amp;quot; 


text:
 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 


text:
 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 


text:
 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 


text:
 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 


text:
 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 


text:
 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 


text:
 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 


text:
 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 


text:
 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 


text:
 as it is written, &amp;quot;I have made you the father of many nations&amp;quot;--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 


text:
 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, &amp;quot;So shall your offspring be.&amp;quot; 


text:
 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah&amp;apos;s womb. 


text:
 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 


text:
 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 


text:
 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 


text:
 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 


text:
 and hope does not put us to shame, because God&amp;apos;s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 


text:
 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 


text:
 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 


text:
 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 


text:
 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 


text:
 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-- 


text:
 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 


text:
 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 


text:
 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man&amp;apos;s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 


text:
 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man&amp;apos;s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 


text:
 For if, because of one man&amp;apos;s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 


text:
 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 


text:
 For as by the one man&amp;apos;s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man&amp;apos;s obedience the many will be made righteous. 


text:
 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 


text:
 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 


text:
 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 


text:
 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 


text:
 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 


text:
 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 


text:
 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 


text:
 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 


text:
 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 


text:
 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 


text:
 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 


text:
 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 


text:
 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 


text:
 Or do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 


text:
 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 


text:
 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 


text:
 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 


text:
 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 


text:
 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 


text:
 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, &amp;quot;You shall not covet.&amp;quot; 


text:
 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 


text:
 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 


text:
 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 


text:
 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 


text:
 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 


text:
 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. 


text:
 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 


text:
 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 


text:
 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. 


text:
 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God&amp;apos;s law; indeed, it cannot. 


text:
 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 


text:
 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 


text:
 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 


text:
 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 


text:
 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, &amp;quot;Abba! Father!&amp;quot; 


text:
 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 


text:
 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 


text:
 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 


text:
 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 


text:
 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 


text:
 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 


text:
 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 


text:
 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 


text:
 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 


text:
 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 


text:
 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 


text:
 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 


text:
 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 


text:
 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 


text:
 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 


text:
 As it is written, &amp;quot;For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.&amp;quot; 


