John 16 Cross References - BSB

¹ “I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. ³ They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me. ⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; ¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned. ¹² I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. ¹³ However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. ¹⁵ Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you. ¹⁶ In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.” ¹⁷ Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They kept asking, “Why is He saying, ‘a little while’? We do not understand what He is saying.” ¹⁹ Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ²³ In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. ²⁵ I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.” ²⁹ His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech. ³⁰ Now we understand that You know all things and that You have no need for anyone to question You. Because of this, we believe that You came from God.” ³¹ “Do you finally believe?” Jesus replied. ³² “Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³ I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

⁶ Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

²¹ But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

⁵⁷ And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”

¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” ³³ Peter said to Him, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.”

¹¹ I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

¹⁸ If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. ²⁰ Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. ²¹ But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’ ²⁶ When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

²¹ It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.

¹⁰ so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

⁵ They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

⁵ You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”

²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

⁹ Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

²² Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

²¹ “Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

³⁴ They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

⁴² Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.

³³ When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.

¹³ where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest ² and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today. ⁴ I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,

¹⁹ ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹ Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” ²² The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!” ²³ As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

⁹ So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

² For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. ³ Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

¹³ when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

¹³ For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

⁶ as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

⁹ And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld.

²² All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

¹⁹ “Where is Your Father?” they asked Him. “You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”

⁵⁵ You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word.

²¹ But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.

²³ Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.

³ Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

²⁵ Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me.

⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁸ in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

¹³ I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.

¹ Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

²² “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming. ²³ Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay.

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’

²⁵ See, I have told you in advance.

¹⁹ Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast.

²³ So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.

¹² But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors. ¹³ This will be your opportunity to serve as witnesses.

¹⁹ I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.

²⁹ And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.

¹² While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.

¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”

²³ I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴ But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

¹⁴ because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

⁶² Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?

³³ So Jesus said, “I am with you only a little while longer, and then I am going to the One who sent Me.

³ Jesus knew that the Father had delivered all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was returning to God.

³⁶ “Lord, where are You going?” Simon Peter asked. Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.”

⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.” ⁵ “Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

²⁸ You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me;

¹⁶ In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.”

²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”

⁴ I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.

¹³ But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.

⁷ Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. ⁸ This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” ⁹ What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. ¹¹ And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

⁴⁵ When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stood still, with sadness on their faces.

¹ “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid. ²⁸ You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

²⁰ Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

¹¹ But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb, ¹² and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ “Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked. “Because they have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I do not know where they have put Him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not recognize that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ “Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asked. “Whom are you seeking?” Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”

¹⁸ You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.

²⁵ But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.

²⁷ But I tell you truthfully, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

³⁹ He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me! ⁴⁶ Which of you can prove Me guilty of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me?

⁵⁰ You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” ⁵¹ Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and not only for the nation, but also for the scattered children of God, to gather them together into one.

³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.

¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.

²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.

²⁶ When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me.

⁴ And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. ⁵ For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

³³ Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,

²⁸ And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

¹⁷ For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

⁸ This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” ⁹ What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. ¹¹ And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

¹⁰ Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

⁹ When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

⁴⁶ Which of you can prove Me guilty of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me?

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

²⁹ Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

²⁴ But if an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convicted and called to account by all,

¹⁵ to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”

¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

¹⁸ Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.”

⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to Me to have life. ⁴¹ I do not accept glory from men, ⁴² but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

²³ Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴ That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me! ⁴⁶ Which of you can prove Me guilty of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

⁴⁷ As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’

²² Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. ²³ He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches. ²⁵ David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. ²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope, ²⁷ because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. ²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’ ²⁹ Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay. ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses. ³³ Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand ³⁵ until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ ³⁶ Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!” ³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸ Peter replied, “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.

¹⁴ You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. ¹⁵ You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact. ¹⁶ By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence. ¹⁷ And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. ¹⁸ But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

⁵¹ You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers— ⁵³ you who received the law ordained by angels, yet have not kept it.” ⁵⁴ On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.

⁹ So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.

⁹ Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men, ¹⁶ hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.

¹² See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.

²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

²¹ The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify His law and make it glorious.

²⁴ Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame. ²⁵ In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

⁵ Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

²⁴ Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

³² There is another who testifies about Me, and I know that His testimony about Me is valid.

³² God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.

¹⁴ You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—

³¹ For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

¹⁷ For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

²¹ But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. ²² And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand. ²⁶ He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! ¹⁸ So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.

³ Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.

³⁰ It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. ¹⁵ In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹ God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

⁵ But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness.

⁷ But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.

¹⁶ By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. ⁶ In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight. ⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’” ⁸ In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). ⁹ Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹¹ Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. ¹³ Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet,

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

²⁴ Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered? ²⁵ Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. ²⁶ I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

¹⁸ “Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.

³⁶ But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

¹⁸ So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

²² Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, ²³ so 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. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. ²⁷ And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

³¹ Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.

³⁰ I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has no claim on Me.

⁴² And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.

³⁰ Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹ For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

²⁵ As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

¹⁸ 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 an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

² And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³ So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴ Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

¹⁶ on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.

¹⁰ Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.” ¹² So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! ⁴ So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church?

⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. ¹¹ Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.

² in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

¹⁴ Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,

² instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

²⁷ Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵ if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; ⁶ if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; ⁷ and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

⁷ And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ⁸ The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁷ Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.

⁷ Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels. ⁹ And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.

² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.

¹⁰ And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. ¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

³³ With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.

³ After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

¹ Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready,

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing. ¹² Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

²⁸ And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

³² He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony.

¹⁶ “My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me. ¹⁷ If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own. ¹⁸ He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood.

³⁸ I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

⁴⁹ I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it.

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.

¹⁷ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸ Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

²⁸ One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)

²³ I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me.

⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. ¹⁰ After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’

¹⁰ But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

⁷ Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. ⁸ This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.” ⁹ What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. ¹¹ And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

³ Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.

¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

¹ Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, ² influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. ³ They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

¹ But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, ⁴ traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

¹ Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. ³ In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep. ⁴ For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵ if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; ⁶ if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; ⁷ and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. ¹⁰ Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings. ¹¹ Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord. ¹² These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. ¹³ The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. ¹⁴ Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. ¹⁷ These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. ²⁰ If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

²⁰ You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

²⁷ And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.

⁶ We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

¹ This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,

¹⁹ Therefore write down the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that will happen after this.

¹ Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a thunderous voice, “Come!” ² So I looked and saw a white horse, and its rider held a bow. And he was given a crown, and he rode out to overcome and conquer. ³ And when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword. ⁵ And when the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” Then I looked and saw a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales. ⁶ And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.” ⁷ And when the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ Then I looked and saw a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague, and by the beasts of the earth. ⁹ And when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony they had upheld. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?” ¹¹ Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed. ¹² And when I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red, ¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind. ¹⁴ The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. ¹⁷ For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”

¹ Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him. ⁴ They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever. ⁶ Then the angel said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place.” ⁷ “Behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of prophecy in this book.” ⁸ And I am John, who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. ⁹ But he said to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” ¹⁰ Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near. ¹¹ Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.” ¹² “Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” ¹⁴ Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates. ¹⁵ But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. ¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.” ¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely. ¹⁸ I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city, which are described in this book. ²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! ²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

⁹ in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me;

³² God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses. ³³ Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand ³⁵ until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ ³⁶ Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”

¹⁰ then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹² Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” ¹⁰ But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

³ Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴ But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. ¹⁵ And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully, ¹¹ trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

⁷ To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.

¹³ By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.

⁶ This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ—not by water alone, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies to this, because the Spirit is the truth.

¹⁰ So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

²⁷ All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.

²⁹ My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

² For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.

¹⁰ All I have is Yours, and all You have is Mine; and in them I have been glorified.

¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,

³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

³³ Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.

⁵ Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’

¹⁷ Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They kept asking, “Why is He saying, ‘a little while’? We do not understand what He is saying.” ¹⁹ Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’?

²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

⁵ And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.

¹⁹ It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. ²⁰ After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” ²² When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” ²⁴ Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.” ²⁶ Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” ²⁸ Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

¹ Later, by the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus again revealed Himself to the disciples. He made Himself known in this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter told them, “I am going fishing.” “We will go with you,” they said. So they went out and got into the boat, but caught nothing that night. ⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus. ⁵ So He called out to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” “No,” they answered. ⁶ He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it there, and they were unable to haul it in because of the great number of fish. ⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it) and jumped into the sea. ⁸ The other disciples came ashore in the boat. They dragged in the net full of fish, for they were not far from land, only about a hundred yards. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it, and some bread. ¹⁰ Jesus told them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many, the net was not torn. ¹² “Come, have breakfast,” Jesus said to them. None of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and He did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after He was raised from the dead. ¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.” ¹⁶ Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.” ¹⁷ Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. ¹⁸ Truly, truly, I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told him, “Follow Me.” ²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?” ²¹ When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” ²² Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!” ²³ Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. However, Jesus did not say that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you?”

⁴⁰ God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be seen— ⁴¹ not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.

⁵ and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰ So they kept this matter to themselves, discussing what it meant to rise from the dead.

³² But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

⁴⁵ But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

³⁴ But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.

¹⁶ At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.

⁵ “Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?”

²² Judas (not Iscariot) asked Him, “Lord, why are You going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?”

¹ “I have told you these things so that you will not fall away.

¹⁹ Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’?

⁹ Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹ How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

²⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

¹² Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. ³ You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways. ⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁴ But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts?

³³ Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.

²⁴ But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

¹⁹ In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.

³⁰ Now we understand that You know all things and that You have no need for anyone to question You. Because of this, we believe that You came from God.”

¹⁷ Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

²³ Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

⁵ For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.

¹¹ You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. ² He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm. ³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

¹¹ Light shines on the righteous, gladness on the upright in heart.

⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

¹ In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.

⁸ He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken. ⁹ And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

³ to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

⁹ They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” ¹⁰ Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock. ¹¹ For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him. ¹² They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish. ¹³ Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow. ¹⁴ I will fill the souls of the priests abundantly, and will fill My people with My goodness,” declares the LORD.

²⁵ for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’

³⁹ And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” ⁴¹ In the same way, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way, even the robbers who were crucified with Him berated Him.

⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ “You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.

⁷² And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

²⁹ And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ come down from the cross and save Yourself!” ³¹ In the same way, the chief priests and scribes mocked Him among themselves, saying, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! ³² Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” And even those who were crucified with Him berated Him.

¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

⁶² And he went outside and wept bitterly.

²⁷ A great number of people followed Him, including women who kept mourning and wailing for Him.

⁴⁷ When the centurion saw what had happened, he gave glory to God, saying, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ And when all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew Jesus, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.

²¹ But we were hoping He was the One who would redeem Israel. And besides all this, it is the third day since these things took place.

⁶ Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things.

³³ I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷ Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” So from that hour, this disciple took her into his home.

²⁰ After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

⁴⁶ With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

⁴¹ The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

¹¹ Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

⁶ And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,

⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials ⁷ so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—

¹⁴ “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. ¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’ ¹⁷ For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

¹⁰ And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.

⁷ As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’

¹⁶ To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

⁶ Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.” ⁷ She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

²³ and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said. ²⁴ She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”

²⁶ “Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. ²⁷ I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him,

⁹ He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!

⁸ Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

¹⁶ O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer. ¹⁷ As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD. ¹⁸ We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

⁶ Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale? ⁷ How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.

¹³ Labor pains come upon him, but he is an unwise son. When the time arrives, he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb. ¹⁴ I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

¹⁰ Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you will leave the city and camp in the open fields. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies!

⁵⁷ When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

²⁷ For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

² She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. ⁴ His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth. ⁵ And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

²⁹ But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,

² I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.” ³ With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, ⁴ and on that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD; proclaim His name! Make His works known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted.

⁹ And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

¹¹ So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee. ¹² “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

⁷ “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. ⁸ In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. ¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.

¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. ¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.

⁹ Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God. ¹⁰ Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her, ¹¹ so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious abundance. ¹² For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees. ¹³ As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.” ¹⁴ When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸ yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

⁸ So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.

⁴² But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

²⁵ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

²⁶ He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

⁴¹ While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

⁵¹ While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ praising God continually in the temple.

¹⁴ But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”

²⁷ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

²⁰ Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

¹⁹ It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. ²⁰ After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it) and jumped into the sea.

⁴⁶ With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart,

⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

⁷ For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we have been reassured about you, because of your faith. ⁸ For now we can go on living, as long as you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ How can we adequately thank God for you in return for our great joy over you in His presence?

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,

¹⁸ Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

³⁴ You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession.

⁸ Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

¹³ But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

²⁴ Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

⁷ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

³⁶ “Lord, where are You going?” Simon Peter asked. Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.” ³⁷ “Lord,” said Peter, “why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.”

¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it.

²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.

⁷ If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

²⁶ In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?” ²¹ When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

¹⁸ For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁴ ... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth ¹⁹ of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself as a ransom for all—the testimony that was given at just the right time.

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

²⁵ Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them. ²⁶ Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.

¹ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him. ¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin. There is a sin that leads to death; I am not saying he should ask regarding that sin.

⁹ Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’

³⁶ At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.

¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

⁹ So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

⁷ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

²³ In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

¹¹ Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone else, just as our love for you overflows, ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write these things so that our joy may be complete.

¹² I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come and speak with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

⁴ I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:

² I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

⁶ by understanding the proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

¹⁰ Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?” ¹¹ He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

³⁴ Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable. ³⁵ So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

⁶ Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.

² They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

¹² I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it.

¹⁶ In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.” ¹⁷ Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.” ²⁹ His disciples said, “See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech.

¹² Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—

⁹ I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.

¹⁹ For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth.

²⁴ Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

³⁴ Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.

¹⁷ The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”

³⁷ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

²⁹ but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.

²¹ Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”

²³ Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

⁷ Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You. ⁸ For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

²³ I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.

²⁵ Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them.”

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.” ¹⁶ Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.” ¹⁷ Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

³ For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,

⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.

²² If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!

¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.

⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

²⁴ Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”

¹⁹ We love because He first loved us.

²⁰ But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.

⁹ Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

¹⁹ Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.

⁵¹ As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

⁵¹ While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.

¹ It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.

¹¹ I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one.

⁹ After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. ¹⁰ They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

²⁵ I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

²⁰ The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.

¹⁷ Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

²⁷ For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”

⁸ For I have given them the words You gave Me, and they have received them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵ But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

³⁸ “Will you lay down your life for Me?” Jesus replied. “Truly, truly, I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.

⁶ I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle. ⁷ Because the Lord GOD helps Me, I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame. ⁸ The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me! ⁹ Surely the Lord GOD helps Me. Who is there to condemn Me? See, they will all wear out like a garment; the moths will devour them.

⁷ Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

⁵⁶ But this has all happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted Him and fled.

²⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

⁵⁰ Then everyone deserted Him and fled.

²³ But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.

²⁵ Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

²⁸ Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice

¹⁶ But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone; I am with the Father who sent Me.

²⁹ He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”

²³ But Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works. ¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me—or at least believe on account of the works themselves.

¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

¹ And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

¹⁶ At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.

⁵¹ David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. ⁵² Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

⁸ I will listen to what God the LORD will say; for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints; He will not let them return to folly. ⁹ Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land. ¹⁰ Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed. ¹¹ Faithfulness sprouts from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

⁵ And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

³⁸ “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

¹⁸ If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. ²⁰ Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. ²¹ But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.

¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.

³¹ Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.

²² strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

¹¹ The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.”

²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because you will not experience any loss of life, but only of the ship.

²⁵ So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me.

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

⁴ Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.

¹¹ Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

⁴ who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

¹⁴ But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace ¹⁶ and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

²⁰ and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

⁴ Indeed, when we were with you, we kept warning you that we would suffer persecution; and as you know, it has come to pass.

⁷ For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we have been reassured about you, because of your faith.

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

² and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”

²⁵ He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

⁹ Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

⁴ You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

⁴ because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

²¹ To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

¹⁴ “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹¹ They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.