Line-By-Line Order:
Verse-Reference
Reference-Verse
Separate Line
Verse Only
Reference Only
|
Reference Delimiters:
None — Jhn 1:1 KJV
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Curly — {Jhn 1:1 KJV}
Parens — (Jhn 1:1 KJV)
|
Paragraph Order:
Verse-Reference
Reference-Verse
Reference-Only
|
Number Delimiters:*
No Number
No Delimiter — 15
Square — [15]
Curly — {15}
Parens — (15)
|
Other Options:
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
En dash not Hyphen
|
Quotes Around Verses
Remove Square Brackets |
Select All Verses |
Clear All Verses |
* 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order'
* 'Remove Square Brackets' does not apply to the Amplified Bible
but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son.[fn] And he named him Jesus.
A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping,[fn] and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more.
He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
“Don't think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
“Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord.
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness[fn] in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.
“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
“The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn't collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.
“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
“Therefore, don't be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won't be uncovered and nothing hidden that won't be made known.
“Don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
“The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared,[fn] but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
“how he entered the house of God, and they ate[fn] the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests?
“If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.
When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.
“Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn't have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn't deep.
“For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
“That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.
“For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn't see them, to hear the things you hear but didn't hear them.
“But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.
And they were offended by him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”
Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she's crying out after us.”
He answered, “It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”
Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they've already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”
Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread?
Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,[fn] because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.
“But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn't recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn't we drive it out? ”
“In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.
“But he wasn't willing. Instead, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.
“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me on a denarius?
Jesus answered, “You don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? ”[fn]
“We are able,” they said to him.
He told them, “You will indeed drink my cup,[fn] but to sit at my right and left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
“Did John's baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin? ”
They discussed it among themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say to us, ‘Then why didn't you believe him? '
So they answered Jesus, “We don't know.”
And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
“Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,' he answered, but he didn't go.
“For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn't believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn't even change your minds then and believe him.
“He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn't want to come.
“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
“When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding.
“I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He[fn] is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you don't go in, and you don't allow those entering to go in.[fn]
“and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn't have taken part with them in shedding the prophets' blood.'
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks[fn] under her wings, but you were not willing!
“Unless those days were cut short, no one would[fn] be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.
“They didn't know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be.
“But know this: If the homeowner had known what time[fn] the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.
“The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You're a harsh man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed.
“His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown and gather where I haven't scattered,
“For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink;
“I was a stranger and you didn't take me in; I was naked and you didn't clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn't take care of me.'
“Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
“The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”
Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn't you stay awake with me one hour?
At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal,[fn] to capture me? Every day I used to sit, teaching in the temple, and you didn't arrest me.
Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I don't know the man! ” Immediately a rooster crowed,
The chief priests took the silver and said, “It's not permitted to put it into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.”
Then Pilate said to him, “Don't you hear how much they are testifying against you? ”
they gave him wine[fn] mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it.
“He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.
and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? ”
“how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the Presence — which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests — and also gave some to his companions? ”
“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”[fn] —
“Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn't have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn't deep.
“Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn't produce fruit.
Then he said to them, “Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?
“But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.
“For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
“He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn't know how.
He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”
He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.”
He was not able to do a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
Although the king was deeply distressed, because of his oaths and the guests[fn] he did not want to refuse her.
(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders.
When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.[fn])
“For it doesn't go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean).
He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre.[fn] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice.
“I have compassion on the crowd, because they've already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat.
The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don't you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts?
“Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear? And do you not remember?
“Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't.”
After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn't we drive it out? ”
Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it.
“Whoever welcomes[fn] one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone[fn] driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn't following us.”
Jesus said to them, “You don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? ”
“But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”[fn]
Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs.
They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Then why didn't you believe him? '
So they answered Jesus, “We don't know.”
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
“There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring.
“And as for the dead being raised — haven't you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?
“The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him.
“If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.
“Therefore be alert, since you don't know when the master of the house is coming — whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning.
“For the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”
Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you stay awake one hour?
And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.
“Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn't arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
For many were giving false testimony against him, and the testimonies did not agree.
Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don't you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you? ”
But he kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? ”
Pilate questioned him again, “Aren't you going to answer? Look how many things they are accusing you of! ”
“Don't be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.
Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen.
But they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive, and both of them were well along in years.
“Now listen. You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
When he did come out, he could not speak to them. Then they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was making signs to them and remained speechless.
Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger,[fn] because there was no guest room available for them.
and was a widow for eighty-four years.[fn] She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.
After those days were over, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents[fn] did not know it.
“Why were you searching for me? ” he asked them. “Didn't you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father's house? ”[fn]
John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with[fn] the Holy Spirit and fire.
for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry.
Also, demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God! ” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? ”
“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? He even gave some to those who were with him.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn't shake it, because it was well built.
“They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other:
We played the flute for you,
but you didn't dance;
we sang a lament,
but you didn't weep!
Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair.
“You didn't anoint my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume.
“And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.
Then his mother and brothers came to him, but they could not meet with him because of the crowd.
When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs.
A woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years, who had spent all she had on doctors[fn] and yet could not be healed by any,
When the woman saw that she was discovered, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she declared the reason she had touched him and how she was instantly healed.
After he came to the house, he let no one enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the child's father and mother.
“You give them something to eat,” he told them.
“We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
John responded, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us.”
“Don't stop him,” Jesus told him, “because whoever is not against you is for you.”[fn]
Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
“For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but didn't see them; to hear the things you hear but didn't hear them.”
“because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don't have anything to offer him.'
“Woe to you![fn] You are like unmarked graves; the people who walk over them don't know it.”
“Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in.”
“There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known.
“Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies?[fn] Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight.
“Anyone 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.
He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”
“He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don't have anywhere to store my crops?
“Consider the ravens: They don't sow or reap; they don't have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds?
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won't grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
“But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
“Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don't you know how to interpret this present time?
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won't be able
“once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door. Then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us! ' He will answer you, ‘I don't know you or where you're from.'
“But he will say, ‘I tell you, I don't know you or where you're from. Get away from me, all you evildoers! '
“Yet it is necessary that I travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
“And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
“In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce[fn] all his possessions cannot be my disciple.
“Then he became angry and didn't want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig; I'm ashamed to beg.
“So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine?
“And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?
“But he told him, ‘If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.' ”
When he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable;
Then he told the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won't see it.
“For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or respect people,
“The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself:[fn] ‘God, I thank you that I'm not like other people — greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me,[fn] a sinner! '
They understood none of these things. The meaning of the saying[fn] was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man.
“because I was afraid of you since you're a harsh man: you collect what you didn't deposit and reap what you didn't sow.'
“He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn't deposit and reaping what I didn't sow,
“why, then, didn't you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.'
“They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”
They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Why didn't you believe him? '
They were not able to catch him in what he said in public, and being amazed at his answer, they became silent.
“He is not the God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to[fn] him.”
“These things that you see — the days will come when not one stone will be left on another that will not be thrown down.”
“When you hear of wars and rebellions,[fn] don't be alarmed. Indeed, it is necessary that these things take place first, but the end won't come right away.”
“Every day while I was with you in the temple, you never laid a hand on me. But this is your hour — and the dominion of darkness.”
After a little while, someone else saw him and said, “You're one of them too.”
“Man, I am not! ” Peter said.
But Peter said, “Man, I don't know what you're talking about! ” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.
“Look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the women without children, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed! '
who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.
Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.[fn]
“He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee,
The one named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that happened there in these days? ”
“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn't see him.”
“Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.
“What then? ” they asked him. “Are you Elijah? ”
“I am not,” he said.
“Are you the Prophet? ”
“No,” he answered.
So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren't the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet? ”
“I baptize with[fn] water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don't know him.
“I didn't know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
“I didn't know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on — he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from — though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom
“The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
“For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it,[fn] so that his deeds may not be exposed.
“You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I've been sent ahead of him.'
The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son[fn] will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
“I don't have a husband,” she answered.
“You have correctly said, ‘I don't have a husband,' ” Jesus said.
“For you've had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
“You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
“Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I'm coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”
and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”
But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.[fn]
“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[fn] worth of bread wouldn't be enough for each of them to have a little.”
The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat.[fn] They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.
“The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn't help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
“Go up to the festival yourselves. I'm not going up to this festival,[fn] because my time has not yet fully come.”
“The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
As he was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don't know him;
Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn't you bring him? ”
“You aren't from Galilee too, are you? ” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”
“Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I'm going. But you don't know where I come from or where I'm going.
“And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.
“You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
“The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”
“But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature,[fn] because he is a liar and the father of lies.
“The one who is from God listens to God's words. This is why you don't listen, because you are not from God.”
“I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me.
“You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don't know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word.
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn't keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs? ” And there was a division among them.
The Jews did not believe this about him — that he was blind and received sight — until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.
“But we don't know how he now sees, and we don't know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he's of age. He will speak for himself.”
He answered, “Whether or not he's a sinner, I don't know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see! ”
“I already told you,” he said, “and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don't want to become his disciples too, do you? ”
“We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man — we don't know where he's from.”
“This is an amazing thing! ” the man told them. “You don't know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.
“We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him.
“Throughout history[fn] no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.
“If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn't have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,' your sin remains.
“They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don't know the voice of strangers.”
Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
“All who came before me[fn] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them.
“A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
“The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them[fn] and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.
“But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Others were saying, “These aren't the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? ”
When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
“But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”
“I'm glad for you that I wasn't there so that you may believe. But let's go to him.”
Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died! ”
One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!
He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You've accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him! ”
Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn't overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn't know where he's going.
Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him.
“For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.
Jesus answered him, “What I'm doing you don't realize now, but afterward you will understand.”
“You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.
Jesus replied, “If I don't wash you, you have no part with me.”
“One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn't need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”
“Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master,[fn] and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father'?
“The one who doesn't love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.
“I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me.[fn]
“I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn't know what his master[fn] is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.
“Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
“But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don't know the one who sent me.
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin.
“If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
“But I have told you these things so that when their time[fn] comes you will remember I told them to you. I didn't tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
“Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don't go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.
They said, “What is this he is saying,[fn] ‘In a little while'? We don't know what he's talking about.”
“In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
“Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
“Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
“I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
“I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
“Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me.
This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”
Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren't one of this man's disciples too, are you? ”
“I am not,” he said.
Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren't one of his disciples too, are you? ”
He denied it and said, “I am not.”
Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
They answered him, “If this man weren't a criminal,[fn] we wouldn't have handed him over to you.”
Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.”
“It's not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared.
“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,[fn] my kingdom is not from here.”
He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from? ” But Jesus did not give him an answer.
“You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn't been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
From that moment Pilate kept trying[fn] to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar! ”
They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him! ”
Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king? ”
“We have no king but Caesar! ” the chief priests answered.
So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they've put him! ”
They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? ”
“Because they've taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don't know where they've put him.”
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.
But Thomas (called “Twin”[fn]), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.
So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish — 153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
So this rumor[fn] spread to the brothers and sisters that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? ”
“God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
“Wasn't it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn't it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”
Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables.
But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.
“He didn't give him an inheritance in it — not even a foot of ground — but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him, even though he was childless.
“I am the God of your ancestors — the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.
“Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
“They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what's happened to him.
“Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
“You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.
Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this:
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing.
So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision.
She recognized Peter's voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate.
At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.
At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.
“Now as John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one. But one is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.'
“Everyone who believes is justified[fn] through him from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.
Paul and Barnabas boldly replied, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.
“although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”
After Paul and Barnabas had engaged them in serious argument and debate, Paul and Barnabas and some others were appointed to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this issue.
When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
“and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”
Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.
Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.
“The God who made the world and everything in it — he is Lord of heaven and earth — does not live in shrines made by hands.
“Since, then, we are God's offspring, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.
For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.
“You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.
Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.
“Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.
“Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness? ”
Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”
“Now those who were with me saw the light,[fn] but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
“Since I couldn't see because of the brightness of the light,[fn] I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.
“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,” replied Paul. “For it is written, You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people.”
When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges that they were not able to prove.
“I answered them that it is not the Roman custom to give someone up[fn] before the accused faces the accusers and has an opportunity for a defense against the charges.
“I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination is over, I may have something to write.
For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging. Finally all hope was fading that we would be saved.
When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could.
When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.
On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart — by the Spirit, not the letter.[fn] That person's praise is not from people but from God.
All have turned away;
all alike have become worthless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.
In what way, then, was it credited — while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised.
And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.
because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person's account when there is no law.
What then? Should we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not!
Don't you know that if you offer yourselves to someone[fn] as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey — either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.
For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.
You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?
In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us[fn] with inexpressible groanings.
He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?
For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to election might stand —
But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law.[fn]
Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works.[fn] They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?
But I ask, “Did they not hear? ” Yes, they did:
Their voice has gone out to the whole earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.
But I ask, “Did Israel not understand? ” First, Moses said,
I will make you jealous
of those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation
that lacks understanding.
God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he pleads with God against Israel?
But what was God's answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.
What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval.
The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal;[fn] do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord.[fn] Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God.
But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith,[fn] and everything that is not from faith is sin.
but, as it is written,
Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.
who risked their own necks for my life. Not only do I thank them, but so do all the Gentile churches.
I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't recall if I baptized anyone else.
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.
For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom[fn] but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,
None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written,
What no eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no human heart has conceived —
God has prepared these things for those who love him.
We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.[fn]
For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.
Don't you yourselves know that you are God's temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me.
For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it?
Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven[fn] leavens the whole batch of dough?
Or don't you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the trivial cases?
Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God's kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males,[fn]
“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.
Don't you know that your bodies are a part of Christ's body? So should I take a part of Christ's body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not!
Don't you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.
Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.
But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire.
To the married I give this command — not I, but the Lord — a wife is not to leave[fn] her husband.
Now about virgins:[fn] I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is faithful.
However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, because you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
Don't we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife[fn] like the other apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas?
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?
If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don't we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.
Don't you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar?
For my part I have used none of these rights, nor have I written these things that they may be applied in my case. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast!
For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach[fn] — and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Don't you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.
Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them, since they were struck down in the wilderness.
No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
A man should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. So too, woman is the glory of man.
If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other[fn] custom, nor do the churches of God.
Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
Don't you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!
If the foot should say, “Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
And if the ear should say, “Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you! ” Or again, the head can't say to the feet, “I don't need you! ”
is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.
For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?
and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.[fn]
Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ — whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.
Indeed, this is our boast: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with godly sincerity and purity, not by human wisdom but by God's grace.
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you — Silvanus,[fn] Timothy, and I — did not become “Yes and no.” On the contrary, in him it is always “Yes.”
If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree — not to exaggerate — to all of you.
I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus. Instead, I said good-bye to them and left for Macedonia.
Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up.
Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.
As it is written: The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.
For if I boast a little too much about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame.
We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you.
We are not boasting beyond measure about other people's labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged,
so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else's area of ministry.
For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
I know a man in Christ who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don't know; God knows.
I know that this man — whether in the body or out of the body I don't know; God knows —
was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak.
For if I want to boast, I wouldn't be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me,
since you seek proof of Christ speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but powerful among you.
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless you fail the test.[fn]
This is why I am writing these things while absent, so that when I am there I may not have to deal harshly with you, in keeping with the authority the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
Paul, an apostle — not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead —
not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
For am I now trying to persuade people,[fn] or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin.
and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ,[fn] even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ[fn] and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will[fn] be justified.
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them.
My point is this: The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously established by God[fn] and thus cancel the promise.
There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
But in the past, since you didn't know God, you were enslaved to things[fn] that by nature are not gods.
You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you.[fn] On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.
For it is written,
Rejoice, childless woman,
unable to give birth.
Burst into song and shout,
you who are not in labor,
for the children of the desolate woman will be many,
more numerous than those
of the woman who has a husband.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave but of the free woman.
Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else.
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift —
This was not made known to people[fn] in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.
For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn't run or labor for nothing.
Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.
In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.
For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh —
Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence.[fn]
In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.
Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.
because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. You know how we lived among you for your benefit,
Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.
For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved.
It is not that we don't have the right to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us.
I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quiet.
(If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God's church?)
and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me[fn] until that day.
May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.
he saved us — not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
you will roll them up like a cloak,[fn]
and they will be changed like clothing.
But you are the same,
and your years will never end.
For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.[fn] That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,
for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked to anger with that generation
and said, “They always go astray in their hearts,
and they have not known my ways.”
For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith.[fn]
Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience,
No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
He doesn't need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do — first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself.
a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one.
not like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
I showed no concern for them, says the Lord,
because they did not continue in my covenant.
The cherubim of glory were above the ark overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now.
Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year.
Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said:
You did not desire sacrifice and offering,
but you prepared a body for me.
After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law),
But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.
But they now desire a better place — a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn't fear the king's edict.
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised,
for they could not bear what was commanded: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.
See to it that you do not reject the one who speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven.
Don't be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited.
We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works — this person will be blessed in what he does.
You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war.[fn] You do not have because you do not ask.
Don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer[fn] defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.
Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.
Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,
because you have been born again — not of perishable seed but of imperishable — through the living and enduring word of God.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
and if he didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,[fn] when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn't keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word you have heard.
The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.[fn]
But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he's going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's possessions — is not from the Father, but is from the world.
They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you,[fn] remain in him.
See what great love[fn] the Father has given us that we should be called God's children — and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know him.
You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins,[fn] and there is no sin in him.
This is how God's children and the devil's children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.
Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
but every spirit that does not confess Jesus[fn] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment.[fn] So the one who fears is not complete in love.
For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,
Jesus Christ — he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The elder:
To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth — and not only I, but also all who know the truth —
Anyone who does not remain in Christ's teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.
Though I have many things to write to you, I don't want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.
I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive our authority.
Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses's body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you! ”
But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct — like irrational animals — by these things they are destroyed.
“I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.
“I know your[fn] affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
“I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven't known “the so-called secrets[fn] of Satan” — as they say — I am not putting any other burden on you.
“I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
“Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.
“For you say, ‘I'm rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,' and you don't realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop,[fn] saying,
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God, the Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is to come.
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God's seal on their foreheads.
The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.
And some of[fn] the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.
They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
for they did not love their lives
to the point of death.
These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed[fn] from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
“and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest[fn] day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.
There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake.
“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and is to come.
“The beast that was and is not, is itself an eighth king, but it belongs to the seven and is going to destruction.
As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways,
give her that much torment and grief.
For she says in her heart,
“I sit as a queen;
I am not a widow,
and I will never see grief.”
Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.
This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power[fn] over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things[fn] have passed away.
I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.
He said to them, “Haven't you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry:
“Or haven't you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent?
“Haven't you read,” he replied, “that he who created[fn] them in the beginning made them male and female,
“Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven't you read what was spoken to you by God:
“Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren't his sisters here with us? ” So they were offended by him.
“Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for eighteen years — shouldn't she be untied from this bondage[fn] on the Sabbath day? ”
And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? ”
But some of them said, “Couldn't he who opened the blind man's eyes also have kept this man from dying? ”
Jesus said to her, “Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? ”
One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn't I see you with him in the garden? ”
So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? ”
Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?
For whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not acting like mere humans?
I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between fellow believers?
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
Otherwise, wouldn't they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?
In the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?
What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don't they come from your passions that wage war within you?[fn]
Loading
Loading
Interlinear |
Bibles |
Cross-Refs |
Commentaries |
Dictionaries |
Miscellaneous |