John 4 Cross References - ISV

¹ Jesus Meets a Samaritan WomanNow when Jesus realized that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John— ² although it was not Jesus who did the baptizing but his disciples— ³ he left Judea and went back to Galilee. ⁴ Now it was necessary for him to go through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s Well was also there, and Jesus, tired out by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
⁷ A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus told her, “Please give me a drink,” ⁸ since his disciples had gone off into town to buy food.
⁹ The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.
¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Please give me a drink,’ you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water.”
¹¹ The woman told him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water? ¹² You’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it, along with his sons and his flocks, are you?”
¹³ Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. ¹⁴ But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life.”
¹⁵ The woman told him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I won’t get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
¹⁶ He told her, “Go and call your husband, and come back here.”
¹⁷ The woman answered him, “I don’t have a husband.”
Jesus told her, “You are quite right in saying, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ ¹⁸ because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
¹⁹ The woman told him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet! ²⁰ Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain. But you Jews say that the place where people should worship is in Jerusalem.”
²¹ Jesus told her, “Believe me, dear lady, the hour is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We Jews know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. ²³ Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
²⁵ The woman told him, “I know that the Anointed One is coming, who is being called ‘the Messiah’. When that person comes, he will explain everything.”
²⁶ “I am he,” Jesus replied, “the one who is speaking to you.”
²⁷ At this point his disciples arrived, and they were astonished that he was talking to a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want from her?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” ²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” ³⁰ The people left the town and started on their way to him.
³¹ Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, have something to eat.”
³² But he told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
³³ So the disciples began to say to one another, “No one has brought him anything to eat, have they?”
³⁴ Jesus told them, “My food is doing the will of the one who sent me and completing his work. ³⁵ You say, don’t you, ‘In four more months the harvest will begin?’ Look, I tell you, open your eyes and observe that the fields are ready for harvesting now! ³⁶ The one who harvests is already receiving his wages and gathering a crop for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who harvests may rejoice together. ³⁷ In this respect the saying is true: ‘One person sows, and another person harvests.’ ³⁸ I have sent you to harvest what you have not worked for. Others have worked, and you have adopted their work as your own.”
³⁹ Now many of the Samaritans of that town believed in Jesus because the woman had testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.”
⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of what he said. ⁴² They kept telling the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, because now we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the Savior of the world.”
⁴³ Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
Two days later, Jesus left for Galilee from there, ⁴⁴ since Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. ⁴⁵ When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything that he had done in Jerusalem during the festival and because they, too, had gone to the festival. ⁴⁶ So Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Meanwhile, in Capernaum there was a government official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him repeatedly to come down and heal his son, because he was about to die.
⁴⁸ Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
⁴⁹ The official told him, “Sir, please come down before my little boy dies.”
⁵⁰ Jesus told him, “Go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and started back home.
⁵¹ While he was on his way, his servants met him and told him that his child was alive. ⁵² So he asked them at what hour he had begun to recover, and they told him, “The fever left him yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon.”
⁵³ Then the father realized that this was the very hour when Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole family.
⁵⁴ Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, because you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way

¹¹ Today your Savior, the Lord Messiah, was born in the City of David.

³¹ If anyone asks you why you are untying it, say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³⁴ The disciples answered, “The Lord needs it.”

²² John the Baptist Talks about JesusAfter this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside. He spent some time there with them and began baptizing.

²⁶ so they went to John and told him, “Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one about whom you testified—look, he’s baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”

³⁶ He has sent his word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus the Messiah. This man is the Lord of everyone.

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

⁴⁷ The first man came from the dust of the earth; the second man came from heaven.

⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but rather Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus’ sake.

¹ Do Not Show PartialityMy brothers, do not let your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be tainted by favoritism.

¹⁶ On his robe that covers his thigh he has a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

⁴⁸ So Peter ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah. Then they asked him to stay there for several days.

¹³ Is the Messiah divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? You weren’t baptized in Paul’s name, were you? ¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Oh yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanas. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For the Messiah did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so the cross of the Messiah won’t be emptied of its power.

²³ So when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, because I tell all of you with certainty that you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

⁷ Jesus Encounters a Large CrowdSo Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. A large crowd from Galilee, Judea,

⁴³ Jesus Calls Philip and NathanielThe next day, Jesus decided to go away to Galilee, where he found Philip and told him, “Follow me.”

¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

³² He testifies about what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony.

⁴⁰ Then he went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and he remained there.

⁵⁴ As a result, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews. Instead, he went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness. There he remained with his disciples.

⁵ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
These were the Twelve whom Jesus sent out after he had given them these instructions: “Don’t turn on to the road that leads to the unbelievers, and don’t enter Samaritan towns. ⁶ Instead, go to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.

⁴⁹ He asked them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?”

⁵¹ A Samaritan Village Refuses to Welcome JesusWhen the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem. ⁵² So he sent messengers on ahead of him. On their way they went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him.

¹¹ Jesus Cleanses Ten LepersOne day, Jesus was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Then he bought a parcel of land for 100 pieces of silver from the descendants of Hamor, Shechem’s father. He pitched his tent there,

²² I’m assigning you one portion more than your brothers from the land that I confiscated from the control of the Amorites in battle.”

³² They also buried the bones of Joseph, which the Israelis brought up from Egypt, in the parcel of ground at Shechem that Jacob had purchased from the descendants of Shechem’s father Hamor, for 100 pieces of silver. It became part of the inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

¹² You’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it, along with his sons and his flocks, are you?”

² After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he finally became hungry.

²⁴ Suddenly, a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat began to be swamped by the waves. Yet Jesus kept sleeping.

⁴⁵ Jesus Dies on the Cross
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

⁷ and she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no place for them in the guest quarters.

⁵⁸ Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest.”

⁹ Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours in the day, aren’t there? If anyone walks during the day he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Although he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich.

¹⁷ thereby becoming like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people’s sins.

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Instead, we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet he never sinned.

⁴³ here I am standing by the spring. May it be that the young woman who comes out to draw water, from whom I request a little water from her jug to drink,

¹⁵ David expressed his longing, “Oh, how I wish someone would get me a drink of water from the Bethlehem well that’s by the city gate!” ¹⁶ So the Three elite warriors broke through the Philistine ranks, drew some water from the Bethlehem well that was next to the city gate, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out in the LORD’s presence, ¹⁷ and said, “The LORD forbid that I drink this—this is the blood of men who endangered their own lives!” The Three elite warriors did these things.

¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance to the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he asked her, “Please, may I have some water in a cup so I can have a drink.”

⁴² I tell all of you with certainty, whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple will never lose his reward.”

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Please give me a drink,’ you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water.”

²⁸ Jesus Dies on the Cross
After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), “I’m thirsty.”

¹³ But he told them, “You give them something to eat.”
They replied, “We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

³⁹ Now many of the Samaritans of that town believed in Jesus because the woman had testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.”

⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ Jesus said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.
⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread isn’t enough for each of them to have a little.”

²⁴ Assyria Supplants the Northern KingdomBecause the king of Assyria brought captives from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sephar-vaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelis, the settlers possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ When they first began to live there, the settlers did not fear the LORD, so he sent lions among them, and they killed a few of them. ²⁶ As a result, they reported to the king of Assyria, “Because the nations whom you exiled to live in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land, he has sent lions among them. Look how the lions are killing them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land!”
²⁷ So the king of Assyria issued this order: “Take one of the priests whom you carried away and let him go back and live there. Let him teach them the law of the god of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria went to live in Bethel to teach them how they ought to fear the LORD.
²⁹ Assyrian Settlers Create Lasting CorruptionNevertheless, each nation continued to craft their own gods and install them in the temples on the high places that the people of Samaria had constructed—every nation in their own cities where they continued to live. ³⁰ Settlers from Babylon built Succoth-benoth, settlers from Cuth built Nergal, settlers from Hamath built Ashima, ³¹ and settlers from Avva built Nibhaz and Tartak. The residents of Sephar-vaim burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sephar-vaim.
³² Because they feared the LORD, they also appointed from among themselves priests for the high places who acted on their behalf in the temples on the high places. ³³ While they continued to fear the LORD, they served their own gods, following the custom of the nations whom they had carried away from there. ³⁴ To this very day, they still follow the former customs: they don’t fear the LORD and they don’t live in accordance with the statutes, ordinances, laws, or commandments that the LORD had given to the descendants of Jacob—whom he renamed Israel— ³⁵ and with whom the LORD had made a covenant when he gave these orders to them: “You are not to fear other gods, bow down to them, serve them, or sacrifice to them. ³⁶ Instead, it is to be the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, showing great power and public demonstrations of might, whom you are to fear, worship, and to whom you are to offer sacrifice. ³⁷ Furthermore, you are to be careful to observe forever the statutes, ordinances, law, and the commandment that he wrote for you. And you are not to fear other gods. ³⁸ You are not to forget the covenant that I’ve made with you, and you are not to fear other gods. ³⁹ But you are to fear the LORD, and he will deliver you from the control of all your enemies.”
⁴⁰ But they wouldn’t listen. Instead, they did what they had been doing before. ⁴¹ These nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their descendants did the same thing, as did their grandchildren. Just as their ancestors had done, they also do the same thing to this day.

¹ A Plot to Hinder the WorkWhen the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the descendants of the Babylonian captivity had built their Temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families with this message: “Let’s build along with you, because, like you, we seek your God, as do you, and we’ve been making sacrifices to him since the reign of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”
³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part in our plans for building a temple to our God, because we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, in accordance with the decree issued by King Cyrus, king of Persia.”
⁴ The Plot Succeeds—for a WhileAfter this, the non-Israeli inhabitants of the land undermined the people of Judah, harassing them in their construction work ⁵ by bribing their consultants in order to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus, king of Persia until Darius became king.
⁶ At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus, they lodged a formal accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷ While Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their co-conspirators wrote in the Aramaic language and script to King Artaxerxes of Persia.
Aramaic:
⁸ Governor Rehum and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
⁹ From Governor Rehum
Shimshai the scribe
The rest of their colleagues—
Judges, envoys, officials, Persians, the people of Erech, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, the Elamites) ¹⁰ and many other nations whom the great and honorable Osnappar deported and resettled in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the Euphrates River.
¹¹ This is the text of the letter they sent. To: King Artaxerxes From: Your servants, the men of the province beyond the Euphrates River. ¹² May the king be advised that the Jews who came from you to us have reached Jerusalem and are rebuilding a rebellious and wicked city, having completed its walls and repaired its foundations. ¹³ May the king be further advised that if this city is rebuilt and its walls erected, its citizens will refuse to pay tributes, taxes, and tariffs, thereby restricting royal revenues. ¹⁴ Now, because we are royal employees and are committed to preserving the reputation of the king, we have written to the king and have declared its contents to be true, ¹⁵ urging that a search may be made in the official registers of your predecessors. You will discover in the registers that this city is a rebellious city, that it is damaging to both kings and provinces, that it has been moved to sedition from time immemorial, and that because of this it was destroyed. ¹⁶ We certify to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls completed, you will lose your land holdings in the province beyond the Euphrates River.
¹⁷ The Response of AhasuerusThe king replied: To: Governor Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues living in Samaria, and the remainder living beyond the Euphrates River. Greetings: ¹⁸ The memorandum you sent to us has been read and carefully considered. ¹⁹ Pursuant to my edict, an investigation has been undertaken. It is noted that this city has fomented rebellion against kings from time immemorial, and that rebellion and sedition has occurred in it. ²⁰ Powerful kings have reigned over Jerusalem, including ruling over all lands beyond the Euphrates River. Furthermore, taxes, tribute, and tolls have been paid to them. ²¹ Accordingly, issue an order to force these men to cease their work so that this city is not rebuilt until you receive further notice from me. ²² Be diligent and take precautions so that you do not neglect your responsibility in this matter. Why should the kingdom sustain any more damage?
²³ Reconstruction CeasesAs soon as a copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, to Shimshai the scribe, and to their colleagues, they traveled quickly to Jerusalem and compelled the Jews to cease by force of arms. ²⁴ As a result, work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem ceased and did not begin again until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.

¹ Sanballat Opposes the ReconstructionWhen Sanballat heard that we were reconstructing the wall, he flew into a rage, became indignant, and mocked the Jews. ² He addressed his allies and the Samaritan officials, saying “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Are they intending to rebuild it by themselves? Do they intend to offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a single day? Can they make stones from this burned out rubble?”

⁵ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
These were the Twelve whom Jesus sent out after he had given them these instructions: “Don’t turn on to the road that leads to the unbelievers, and don’t enter Samaritan towns.

⁵² So he sent messengers on ahead of him. On their way they went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. ⁵³ But the people would not welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When his disciples James and John observed this rejection, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” ⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶ and they all went on to another village.

³³ But as he was traveling along, a Samaritan came across the man. When the Samaritan saw him, he was moved with compassion.

¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now that man was a Samaritan.
¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren’t they? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Except for this foreigner, were any of them found to return and give praise to God?” ¹⁹ Then he told the man, “Get up, and go home! Your faith has made you well.”

²⁷ At this point his disciples arrived, and they were astonished that he was talking to a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want from her?” or, “Why are you talking to her?”

⁴⁸ Jesus is Superior to AbrahamThe Jewish leaders replied to him, “Surely we’re right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, aren’t we?”

⁸ But you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

²⁸ He told them, “You understand how wrong it is for a Jew to associate or visit with unbelievers. But God has shown me that I should stop calling anyone common or unclean,

⁶ I’ll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. You are to strike the rock and water will come out of it, so the people can drink.” Moses did this in front of the elders of Israel.

¹² But when he was in trouble, he sought the face of the LORD his God, humbled himself magnificently before the God of his ancestors, ¹³ and prayed to him. Moved by Manasseh’s entreaties, the LORD heard his supplications and brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. That’s how Manasseh learned that the LORD is God.

¹⁸ The Death of Manasseh
Now as to the rest of Manasseh’s accomplishments, including his prayer to God and what the seers had to say to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, they are included among the Acts of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁹ His prayer, how God was moved by him, all of his sin and unfaithfulness, and a record of the sites where he constructed high places, erected Asherim and carved images before he humbled himself are written in the Acts of the Seers.

¹⁷ LORD, you heard the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen them, you will listen carefully,

⁸ They are refreshed from the abundance of your house; You cause them to drink from the river of your pleasures. ⁹ For with you is a fountain of life, and in your light we will see light.

⁴ Look! There is a river whose streams make the city of God rejoice, even the Holy Place of the Most High.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

³ You will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. And you will say at that time:

⁶ then the lame will leap like deer, and the tongues of speechless people will sing for joy. Yes, waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will run through the desert;

¹⁷ “As for the poor, the needy, those seeking water— when there is none and their tongues are parched from thirst— I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, won’t abandon them. ¹⁸ I’ll open up rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I’ll turn the desert into a pool of water, and the parched land into springs of water.

⁶ “I’ve called you in righteousness. I’ll take hold of your hand. I’ll preserve you and appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light for the nations,

²⁰ Wild animals, jackals, and owls will honor me because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wilderness to give drink to my people, my chosen ones,

³ For I’ll pour water upon thirsty ground and streams on parched land. So will I pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants.

⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. ⁷ “This is what my Lord says— the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One— to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you.”
⁸ The Restoration of Israel“This what the LORD says: “I’ll answer you in a time of favor, and on a day of salvation I’ll help you. I have watched over you, and given you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated;

¹⁰ They won’t hunger or thirst, nor will the desert heat or sun beat upon them; for the one who has compassion on them will drive them and guide them alongside springs of water.

¹ An Invitation to Life “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters! Also, you that have no money, come, buy, and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without price. ² Why spend your money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in rich food. ³ Pay attention to me, come to me; and listen, so that you may live; then I’ll make an everlasting covenant with you, as promised by my faithful, sure love for David.

⁶ Steps to Reconciliation“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, So he’ll have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he’ll pardon abundantly. ⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹³ “Indeed, my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

¹ The Vision of the Temple RiverAfter this, he brought me back to the doorway to the Temple. To my amazement, there was water flowing out toward the east from beneath the threshold of the Temple! (The Temple faced eastward.) The water flowed down from beneath the right side of the Temple, that is, from the south-facing side where the altar was located. ² Then he brought me out through the north gateway and around to the one outside that faces toward the east. To my amazement, water was trickling out from that part of the south side, too!
³ As the man went out toward the east, he carried a measuring line in his hand. He measured out 1,000 cubits as he led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴ Then he measured out another 1,000 cubits, where he led me through water that was knee-deep. And then he measured out another 1,000 cubits, where the water was waist-deep. ⁵ When he had measured out another 1,000 cubits, the water had become deep enough that I wasn’t able to ford it. Instead, I would have had to swim through it.
⁶ Then, as he was bringing me back along the river bank, he asked me, “Son of Man, did you see all of this?” ⁷ As we were coming back, I was amazed to see that there were many, many trees lining both banks of the river. ⁸ He told me, “This river flows toward the eastern territories all the way down into the Arabah, and from there its water flows toward the Dead Sea, where the sea water turns fresh. ⁹ It will support all kinds of living creatures that will thrive abundantly wherever the river flows. There will be a great many fish, because this water will flow there and turn the salt water fresh. As a result, everything will live wherever the river flows.

¹ At that time, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for those who live in Jerusalem so they can be cleansed from sin and ceremonial impurity.

⁸ At that time, flowing waters will run perennially from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half to the Mediterranean Sea.

⁸ I tell you, even though that man doesn’t want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
⁹ Ask, Search, Knock
So I say to you: Keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you, ¹⁰ because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.

¹³ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!”

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. Instead, he continued to beat his chest and said, ‘O God, be merciful to me, the sinner that I am!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”

⁴² Then he went on to plead, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!”
⁴³ Jesus told him, “I tell you with certainty, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life.

¹⁴ But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life.”

²⁵ The woman told him, “I know that the Anointed One is coming, who is being called ‘the Messiah’. When that person comes, he will explain everything.”
²⁶ “I am he,” Jesus replied, “the one who is speaking to you.”

³⁵ Jesus told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty.

⁵¹ I’m the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he’ll live forever. And the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

³⁷ Rivers of Living WaterOn the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! ³⁸ The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have rivers of living water flowing from his heart.” ³⁹ Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit was not yet present and Jesus had not yet been glorified.

³⁵ Spiritual BlindnessJesus heard that they had thrown him out. So when he found him, he asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
³⁶ He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”
³⁷ Jesus told him, “You have seen him. He is the person who is talking with you.”
³⁸ He said, “Lord, I do believe,” and worshipped him.

³ They’ll do this because they haven’t known the Father or me.

³ And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah.

¹¹ The Lord told him, “Get up, go to the street called Straight, and in the home of Judas look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. At this very moment he’s praying.

³² The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won’t he?

³⁰ It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

⁴ and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was the Messiah.

¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

⁸ For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God

²⁰ We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God. We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life.

¹⁷ You say, “I am rich. I have become wealthy. I don’t need anything.” Yet you don’t realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ Therefore, I advise you to buy from me gold purified in fire so you may be rich, white clothes to wear so your shameful nakedness won’t show, and ointment to put on your eyes so you may see.

¹⁷ because the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

⁶ Then he told me, “It has happened! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give a drink from the spring of the water of life to the one who is thirsty.

¹ The Vision of the River of the Water of LifeThen the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal. It was flowing from the throne of God and the lamb. ² Between the city street and the river, the tree of life was visible from each side. It produced twelve kinds of fruit, each month having its own fruit. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

¹⁷ Concluding InvitationThe Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
Let everyone who hears this say, “Come!”
Let everyone who is thirsty come!
Let anyone who wants the water of life take it as a gift!

⁴ Nicodemus asked him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He can’t go back into his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”

¹⁴ A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the things of God’s Spirit, for they are nonsense to him. He can’t understand them because they are spiritually evaluated.

² For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and there is no attractiveness that we should desire him. ³ “He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him.

⁴² The queen of the south will stand up and condemn the people living today, because she came from so far away to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look! Something greater than Solomon is here!”

⁶ Jacob’s Well was also there, and Jesus, tired out by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁵³ You aren’t greater than our father Abraham, who died, are you? The prophets also died. Who are you making yourself out to be?”

³ because he is worthy of greater glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.

¹³ The Righteous and Wicked ContrastedTherefore, this is what the LORD says: “See, my servants will eat, but you’ll go hungry; my servants will drink, but you’ll go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you’ll be put to shame. ¹⁴ My servants will sing in gladness of heart, but you’ll cry for help from anguish of heart, and you’ll howl from brokenness of spirit.

²⁴ So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire.’

²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.”

⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and died.

⁴⁶ These people will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not the kind that your ancestors ate. They died, but the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I’ve come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

²⁶ Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

¹⁶ I will ask the Father to give you another Helper, to be with you always. ¹⁷ He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I’m not going to forsake you like orphans. I will come back to you.
¹⁹ “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

² For you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. ³ And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah.

²¹ so that, just as sin ruled by bringing death, so also grace might rule by bringing justification that results in eternal life through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in union with the Messiah Jesus our Lord.

¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah—if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

²² who has placed his seal on us and has given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.

¹³ You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until God redeems his own possession for his praise and glory.

³⁰ Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.

²² Love One AnotherNow that you have obeyed the truth and have purified your souls to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart.

¹⁶ They will never be hungry or thirsty again. Neither the sun nor its heat will ever beat down on them,

⁶ Many are asking, “Who will help us to see better days?” LORD, may the light of your favor shine upon us.

²⁶ Jesus replied to them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were completely satisfied.

³⁴ Then they told him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time.”

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

³ You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.

⁴² He led Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him intently and said, “You are Simon, John’s son. You will be called Cephas!” (which is translated “Peter”).

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said about him, “Look, a genuine Israeli, in whom there is no deceit!”
⁴⁸ Nathaniel asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

²⁴ Jesus, however, did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people ²⁵ and didn’t need anyone to tell him what people were like, because he himself knew what was in every person.

¹⁸ because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

¹⁷ He asked him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was deeply hurt that he had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” So he told him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you!”
Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep.

¹³ No creature can hide from him, but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.

²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will reward each of you as your actions deserve.

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream during the night and spoke to him, “Pay attention! You’re about to die, because the woman you have taken is a man’s wife!”

² When Hamor the Hivite’s son Shechem, the regional leader, saw her, he grabbed her and raped her, humiliating her.

⁷ Just then Jacob’s sons arrived from the field. When they heard what had happened, they were distraught with grief and livid with anger toward Shechem, because he had committed a disgraceful deed in Israel by forcing Jacob’s daughter to have sex, an act that never should have happened.
⁸ But Hamor said this: “My son is deeply attracted to your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.

³¹ “Should he have treated our sister like a whore?” they asked in response.

²⁹ This is the law in cases of jealousy when a woman defiles herself while under her husband’s authority:

¹⁰ along with Mahlon’s wife Ruth the Moabite woman. I will marry her to continue the family name as an inheritance, so that the name of the deceased does not disappear from among his relatives, nor from the public record. You are all witnesses today!”

²⁰ Instead, like an unfaithful wife leaves her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel,” declares the LORD.

³² who commits adultery, preferring a stranger over her husband!

¹² And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

³ So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man.

¹⁰ To married people I give this command (not really I, but the Lord): A wife must not leave her husband. ¹¹ But if she does leave him, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. Likewise, a husband must not abandon his wife.

⁴ Let marriage be kept honorable in every way, and the marriage bed undefiled. For God will judge those who commit sexual sins, especially those who commit adultery.

²⁶ But Elisha responded, “Didn’t my heart break as the man was turning from his chariot to greet you? Is now the time to receive money? To receive clothes? And olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, servants, or female attendants?

¹² “No, your majesty,” one of his servants said. “Elisha the prophet, who lives in Israel, tells the king of Israel what you talk about in your bedroom!”

¹¹ The crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, the man from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹⁶ Fear gripped everyone, and they began to praise God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said, and “God has helped his people.”

³⁹ Now the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and told himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She’s a sinner!”

¹⁹ He asked them, “What things?”
They answered him, “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in what he said and did before God and all the people,

⁴⁸ Nathaniel asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
⁴⁹ Nathaniel replied to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”

¹⁴ When the people saw the sign that he had done, they kept saying, “Truly this is the Prophet who was to come into the world!”

⁴⁰ Division among the PeopleWhen they heard these words, some in the crowd were saying, “This really is the Prophet,”

¹⁷ So they asked the formerly blind man again, “What do you say about him, since it was your eyes he healed?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”

²⁴ But if everyone is prophesying, when an unbeliever or an uneducated person comes in he will be convicted and examined by everything that’s happening. ²⁵ His secret, inner heart will become known, and so he will bow down to the ground and worship God, declaring, “God is truly among you!”

⁶ Abram traveled through the land to the place called Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
⁷ Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I’ll give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

¹⁸ Jacob Buys Land in ShechemAfter Jacob had arrived safely from Paddan-aram, he entered the city of Shechem, which was located in the territory of Canaan, and encamped facing that city. ¹⁹ Then he bought a parcel of land for 100 pieces of silver from the descendants of Hamor, Shechem’s father. He pitched his tent there, ²⁰ set up an altar, and named it El-elohe-israel.

²⁹ Declaration of the Blessings and Curses“When the LORD brings you to the land that you are about to enter to inherit, repeat the blessings on Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Ebal.

⁵ Instead, you must seek to enter only the place that the LORD your God will choose among your tribes. There he will establish his name and live. ⁶ Bring your burnt offerings there, along with your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, your offerings in fulfillment of promises, your freely given offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷ Then you and your household will eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with all the works of your hand with which he blessed you.
⁸ “You must not act as we have been doing here today, where everyone acts as they see fit, ⁹ for you haven’t arrived yet to your allotted place that the LORD your God is about to give you. ¹⁰ But after you have crossed the Jordan River and settled in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and after you have received relief from the enemies around you and are living securely, ¹¹ then bring to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling place—where he will establish his name—everything that I’m commanding you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, and all your best offerings in fulfillment of promises that you pledged to the LORD.

¹² “When you cross the Jordan River, these tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people—Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

³³ All Israel, both foreigners and citizens, together with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on opposite sides of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. Half stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half stood in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the LORD’s servant had commanded at the first, so that they could bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ Afterwards, Joshua read all the words of the Law—both the blessings and the curses—according to everything written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There wasn’t one word of everything Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, their little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.

⁶ All the men from Shechem and Beth-millo gathered together and set up Abimelech as king near the pillar erected in Shechem. ⁷ When Jotham was informed about this, he went out, took his stand on top of Mount Gerizim, and cried out loudly, “Listen to me, you “lords” of Shechem, and God will listen to you.

³ The LORD told him: “I’ve heard your prayer and your request that you made to me. I have consecrated this Temple that you have built by placing my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there continuously.

²⁶ As a result, they reported to the king of Assyria, “Because the nations whom you exiled to live in the cities of Samaria don’t know the law of the god of the land, he has sent lions among them. Look how the lions are killing them, because they don’t know the law of the god of the land!”
²⁷ So the king of Assyria issued this order: “Take one of the priests whom you carried away and let him go back and live there. Let him teach them the law of the god of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria went to live in Bethel to teach them how they ought to fear the LORD.
²⁹ Assyrian Settlers Create Lasting CorruptionNevertheless, each nation continued to craft their own gods and install them in the temples on the high places that the people of Samaria had constructed—every nation in their own cities where they continued to live. ³⁰ Settlers from Babylon built Succoth-benoth, settlers from Cuth built Nergal, settlers from Hamath built Ashima, ³¹ and settlers from Avva built Nibhaz and Tartak. The residents of Sephar-vaim burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sephar-vaim.
³² Because they feared the LORD, they also appointed from among themselves priests for the high places who acted on their behalf in the temples on the high places. ³³ While they continued to fear the LORD, they served their own gods, following the custom of the nations whom they had carried away from there.

²⁶ built an altar to the LORD there, and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings. He called out to the LORD, and he answered him from heaven with fire on the altar of burnt offerings.

¹ David said, “This is where the LORD God’s Temple will be, along with the altar of burnt offerings for Israel.”

⁶ But I have chosen Jerusalem, where my name will reside. And I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’

¹² God Appears to Solomon
Later, the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night and told him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for a sacrificial temple to me.

¹⁶ Furthermore, I have chosen and have set apart for myself this Temple, intending my name to reside there forever. My eyes and my heart will reside there every day.

⁶⁸ But he chose the tribe of Judah, the mountain of Zion, which he loves.

¹ A psalm by the descendants of Korah. A song.
The Holy City for All People God’s foundation is in the holy mountains. ² The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob.

¹³ For the LORD has chosen Zion, desiring it as his dwelling place.

⁵³ But the people would not welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem.

³ “Son of Man, these men have taken idols into their hearts. They’ve placed the stumbling block that is their own iniquity right in front of their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all?

³ “Tell the elders of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord GOD asks, “Did you come to inquire of me? As long as I live, I won’t let myself be sought by you,” declares the Lord GOD.’

¹¹ Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

²⁰ because where two or three have come together in my name, I am there among them.”

¹⁹ Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

⁵ Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple
Now while some people were talking about the Temple—how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God—he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you see, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another that won’t be knocked down.”

²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the unbelievers until the times of the unbelievers are fulfilled.”

²³ Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him.

²⁵ Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the time approaches, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live.

²⁸ Don’t be amazed at this, because the time is approaching when everyone in their graves will hear the Son of Man’s voice

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

² You’ll be thrown out of the synagogues. Yes, a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he’s serving God.

³² Listen, the time is coming, indeed it has already come, when you will be scattered, each of you to his own home, and you will leave me all by myself. Yet I’m not alone, because the Father is with me.

¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁸ For through him, both of us have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁴ To Know the Messiah’s LoveThis is the reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,

⁸ Instructions to Men and WomenTherefore, I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without being angry or argumentative.

¹⁷ If you call “Father” the one who judges everyone impartially according to what they have done, you must live in reverent fear as long as you are strangers in a strange land.

¹⁰ The scepter will never depart from Judah, nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the One comes, who owns them both, and to him will belong the allegiance of nations.

¹⁰ “Now as far as we’re concerned, the LORD is our God, and we haven’t abandoned him. The descendants of Aaron are ministering to the LORD as priests, and the descendants of Levi continue their work. ¹¹ Every morning and evening, they’re offering burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD, the showbread is set out on the pure table, and they take care of the golden lamp stand so its lamps can continue to burn every evening. We continue to be faithful over what the LORD our God entrusted to us, but you have abandoned him. ¹² Now listen! God is with us to lead us, and his priests are about to sound their battle trumpets against you. Descendants of Israel, don’t fight against the LORD God of your ancestors, because you won’t succeed!”

² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families with this message: “Let’s build along with you, because, like you, we seek your God, as do you, and we’ve been making sacrifices to him since the reign of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

²⁰ God is for us the God of our deliverance. The Lord GOD rescues us from death.

¹⁹ He declares his words to Jacob, his statutes and decrees to Israel.

³ Many groups of people will come, commenting, “Come! Let’s go up to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that they may teach us his ways. Then let’s walk in his paths.”
The Rule of God from Jerusalem “Instruction will proceed from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

² “Look! God—yes God—is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

⁶ Shout aloud, and sing for joy, you who live in Zion, because great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

¹³ My righteousness is brought near and it’s not far off, and my salvation won’t delay. I’ll grant salvation in Zion, and to Israel, my glory.”

¹⁶ “When all of this happens, it will be told Jerusalem, ‘Don’t be afraid!” and to Zion, ‘Don’t lose courage!” ¹⁷ The LORD your God among you is powerful— he will save and he will take joyful delight in you. In his love he will renew you with his love; he will celebrate with singing because of you.

⁹ The Coming of Zion’s King“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

²³ For as I was walking around and looking closely at the objects you worship, I even found an altar with this written on it: ‘To an unknown god.’ So I am telling you about the unknown object you worship.

³⁰ Though God has overlooked those times of ignorance, he now commands everyone everywhere to repent,

¹ Everyone is a SinnerWhat advantage, then, does the Jew have, or what value is there in circumcision? ² There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the utterances of God.

⁴ who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.

¹⁴ Furthermore, it is obvious that our Lord was a descendant of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests coming from that tribe.

¹⁴ “Now you must fear the LORD and serve him in faithfulness and truth. Throw away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Instead, serve the LORD.

²⁴ Only, fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Indeed, consider what great things he has done for you.

¹⁷ And I know, God, that it is you who searches the heart and you who finds pleasure in righteousness. With a righteous heart I have freely given all these things, and now I have seen all of these people of yours giving freely and joyfully to you!

¹ A Davidic Prayer.
A Cry for Justice LORD, hear my just plea! Pay attention to my cry! Listen to my prayer, since it does not come from lying lips.

² How blessed is the person against whom the LORD does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

⁶ Indeed, you are pleased with truth in the inner person, and you will teach me wisdom in my innermost parts.

¹¹ But the LORD is pleased with those who fear him, with those who depend on his gracious love.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

¹⁴ My dove, in the hidden places of the rocks, in the secret places of the cliffs, show me your form, and let me hear your voice. For your voice is pleasant, and your shape is lovely.

¹⁰ “Listen to what the LORD says, you rulers of Sodom, and pay attention to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! ¹¹ “How do your voluminous sacrifices benefit me?” the LORD is asking. “I’ve had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I don’t enjoy the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. ¹² “When you come to present yourselves in my presence, who has required you to trample on my courts? ¹³ Stop bringing useless offerings! Incense is detestable to me, as are your New Moons, Sabbaths, and calling of convocations. I cannot stand iniquity within a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ As for your New Moons and your appointed festivals, I abhor them. They’ve become a burden to me; I’ve grown weary of carrying that burden. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I’ll hide my eyes from you. Even though you pray repeatedly, I won’t listen. Your hands are full of blood, your fingers drenched with iniquity.”

²⁰ The Remnant ReturnsAt that time, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer rely on the one who struck them down, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

⁸ Yes, LORD, in the path of your judgments we wait; your name and your Law are the soul’s desire. ⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me searches for you. For when your judgments come upon the earth, the world’s inhabitants learn righteousness.

¹³ A Rebuke of Hypocritical WorshipThen the Lord said: “Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, worship of me has become merely like rules taught by human beings.

²¹ the people whom I formed for myself and so that they may speak my praise.”

¹ God the Creator and Redeemer “Listen to this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and who have come forth from Judah’s loins; you who swear oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth, nor in good faith. ² For they name themselves after the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel— the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

² They seek me day after day, and are eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practices righteousness and has not forsaken the justice of their God. “They ask me to reveal just decisions; they are eager to draw near to God.

⁸ God’s Reward“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will spring up quickly; and your vindication will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will guard your back. ⁹ Then you’ll call, and the LORD will answer; you’ll cry for help, and he’ll respond, ‘Here I am.’ “If you do away with the yoke among you, and pointing fingers and malicious talk; ¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the needs of afflicted souls, then your light will rise in darkness, and your night will be like noonday. ¹¹ And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in parched places, and they will strengthen your bones; and you’ll be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. ¹² And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; You’ll raise up the age-old foundations, and people will call you ‘Repairer of Broken Walls,’ ‘Restorer of Streets to Live In.’ ¹³ “If you keep your feet from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable; and if you honor it by not going your own ways and seeking your own pleasure or speaking merely idle words, ¹⁴ then you will take delight in the LORD, and he will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; and he will make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob, your father. “Yes! The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

¹ The Worship that God Commands This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you would build for me, and where will my resting place be? ² All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But this is the one to whom I will look favorably: to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my message.

¹⁰ Yet in all this her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with her whole heart, but rather deceptively,” declares the LORD.

² If you swear, ‘as surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations will be blessed by him, and in him they will boast.”

⁷ then I’ll let you dwell in this land, the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever. ⁸ “Look, you’re trusting in deceptive words that cannot benefit. ⁹ Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear by false gods, burn incense to Baal, follow other gods that you don’t know, ¹⁰ and then come to stand before me in this house that is called by my name and say, ‘We’re delivered’ so we can continue to do all these things that are repugnant to God? ¹¹ Has this house that is called by my name become a hideout for bandits in your eyes? Look, I’m watching,” declares the LORD. ¹² “Go to my place that was in Shiloh, where I first caused my name to dwell. See what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.

³⁰ I sought for a man among them to build the wall and stand in the breach in my presence on behalf of the land so that it won’t be destroyed, but I found no one,

⁷ You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, ⁸ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁹ Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”

¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘O God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—thieves, dishonest people, adulterers, or even this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of my entire income.’
¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. Instead, he continued to beat his chest and said, ‘O God, be merciful to me, the sinner that I am!’

¹⁷ because while the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah.

²¹ Jesus told her, “Believe me, dear lady, the hour is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

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

⁹ For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you

¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words,

⁶ Now because you are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, “Abba! Father!”

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times with every kind of prayer and request. Likewise, be alert with your most diligent efforts and pray for all the saints.

³ For it is we who are the circumcision—we who worship in the Spirit of God and find our joy in the Messiah Jesus. We have not placed any confidence in the flesh,

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, must continue to build your most holy faith for your own benefit. Furthermore, continue to pray in the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Remain in God’s love as you look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, which brings eternal life.

⁷ The LORD told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or his height, for I’ve rejected him. Truly, God does not see what man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”

¹³ Why should I eat the flesh of oxen or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Offer to God a thanksgiving praise; pay your vows to the Most High. ¹⁵ Call on me in the day of distress; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”

²³ Whoever offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and I will reveal the salvation of God to whomever continues in my way.”

¹⁷ True sacrifice to God is a broken spirit. A broken and chastened heart, God, you will not despise.

¹⁸ Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not listen to me.

¹⁵ “For this is what the high and lofty One says, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “He lives in the height and in holiness, and also with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

¹² Paul’s Reason for BoastingFor this is what we boast about: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with pure motives and godly sincerity, without earthly wisdom but with God’s grace—especially toward you.

¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom.

¹⁷ Now to the King Eternal—the immortal, invisible, and only God—be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁵ Discerning the True Prophet“The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me for you from among your relatives. You must listen to him, ¹⁶ because this is what you asked from the LORD your God at Horeb when you were assembled together: ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the LORD our God again, or even see this great fire—otherwise, we will die.’
¹⁷ “Then the LORD told me: ‘What they have suggested is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet like you from among their relatives, and I will place my words in his mouth so that he may expound everything that I have commanded to them.

²⁴ Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed Commander. The plaza and moat will be rebuilt, though in troubled times. ²⁶ Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut down (but not for himself). Then the people of the Coming Commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed.

¹⁶ Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Anointed One!” (which is translated “Messiah”).
⁴² He led Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him intently and said, “You are Simon, John’s son. You will be called Cephas!” (which is translated “Peter”).

⁴⁹ Nathaniel replied to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

⁴² They kept telling the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, because now we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the Savior of the world.”

²⁰ Then he strictly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

¹⁵ I am allowed to do what I want with my own money, am I not? Or are you envious because I’m generous?’

⁶³ But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest told him, “I command you by the living God to tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God!”
⁶⁴ Jesus told him, “You have said so. Nevertheless I tell you, from now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’”

⁶¹ But he kept silent and didn’t answer at all. The high priest asked him again, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
⁶² Jesus said, “I AM, and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”

³⁰ You see, some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.

²⁴ That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you’ll die in your sins.”

³⁵ Spiritual BlindnessJesus heard that they had thrown him out. So when he found him, he asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
³⁶ He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”
³⁷ Jesus told him, “You have seen him. He is the person who is talking with you.”

²⁰ And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who were not looking for me; I was revealed to those who were not asking for me.”
²¹ But about Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and rebellious people.”

⁸ since his disciples had gone off into town to buy food.
⁹ The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.

⁸ So they quickly left the tomb, terrified but also ecstatic, and ran to tell Jesus’ disciples.

⁸ So they left the tomb and ran away, overwhelmed by shock and astonishment. They didn’t say a thing to anyone, because they were afraid.
⁹ Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
After Jesus had risen early on the first day of that week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with Jesus and who now were grieving and crying.

⁹ They returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven disciples and all the others.

³³ They got up right away, went back to Jerusalem, and found the eleven disciples and their companions all together.

⁷ A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus told her, “Please give me a drink,”

²³ All the crowds were amazed and kept saying, “This man isn’t the Son of David, is he?”

⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Anointed One!” (which is translated “Messiah”).
⁴² He led Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him intently and said, “You are Simon, John’s son. You will be called Cephas!” (which is translated “Peter”).
⁴³ Jesus Calls Philip and NathanielThe next day, Jesus decided to go away to Galilee, where he found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.
⁴⁵ Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote—Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
⁴⁶ Nathaniel asked him, “From Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?”
Philip told him, “Come and see!”
⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said about him, “Look, a genuine Israeli, in whom there is no deceit!”

¹⁷ The woman answered him, “I don’t have a husband.”
Jesus told her, “You are quite right in saying, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ ¹⁸ because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

²⁵ The woman told him, “I know that the Anointed One is coming, who is being called ‘the Messiah’. When that person comes, he will explain everything.”

²⁶ And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?

³¹ However, many in the crowd believed in him. They kept saying, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t do more signs than this man has done, will he?”

⁸ The Future Restoration of Zion“Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows?

¹ The Visit of the Wise MenAfter Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod, wise men arrived in Jerusalem from the east ² and asked, “Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
³ When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, as was all of Jerusalem.

¹¹ I tell all of you, many will come from east and west and will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom from heaven. ¹² But the unfaithful heirs of that kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside. In that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

²⁰ Jesus Denounces Unrepentant Cities
Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had taken place, because they didn’t repent. ²¹ “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! Because if the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgment Day than for you!
²³ “And you, Capernaum! You won’t be lifted up to heaven, will you? You’ll go down to Hell! Because if the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on Judgment Day than for you!”

⁴⁰ because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But look—something greater than Jonah is here! ⁴² The queen of the south will stand up and condemn the people living today, because she came from so far away to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look! Something greater than Solomon is here!”

¹⁶ “In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen.”

¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now that man was a Samaritan.
¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren’t they? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Except for this foreigner, were any of them found to return and give praise to God?”

⁵ Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began to preach the Messiah to the people. ⁶ The crowds, hearing his message and seeing the signs that he was doing, paid close attention to what was said by Philip. ⁷ Unclean spirits screamed with a loud voice as they came out of the many people they had possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. ⁸ As a result, there was great rejoicing in that city.

³³ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. All of us are here now in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has ordered you to say.”

⁴² As Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath.

²⁸ You must understand that this message about God’s salvation has been sent to the gentiles, and they will listen.”

²⁰ Now the Law crept in so that the offense would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased even more,

³³ But when they had prepared a meal and set it in front of him, he said, “I’m not eating until I’ve spoken.”
“Speak up!” Laban exclaimed.

⁷ to be greeted in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.

³⁸ But when Jesus turned around and saw them following, he asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They asked him, “Rabbi,” (which is translated “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁰ he took them outside and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
³¹ They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and everyone in his home.
³³ At that hour of the night, he took them and washed their wounds. Then he and his entire family were baptized immediately. ³⁴ He brought Paul and Silas upstairs into his house and set food before them. He was thrilled, as was his household, to believe in God.

¹² I haven’t wandered away from the commands that he has spoken; I’ve treasured what he has said more than my own meals.”

¹⁴ The intimate counsel of the LORD is for those who fear him so they may know his covenant.

⁵ Just as I am satisfied with the choicest of foods, so my lips will praise you joyfully.

¹⁰³ How pleasing is what you have to say to me— tasting better than honey.

¹⁰ The heart knows its own bitterness— an outsider cannot share in its joy.

²⁰ The positive words that a man speaks fill his stomach; he will be satisfied with what his lips produce.

¹¹ Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities.

¹⁶ Your words were found, and I consumed them. Your words were joy and my hearts delight, because I bear your name, LORD God of the Heavenly Armies.

³⁴ Jesus told them, “My food is doing the will of the one who sent me and completing his work.

³⁵ In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

¹⁷ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone. On the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the person who receives it.’”

⁶ Jesus told them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
⁷ As they began to discuss this among themselves, they kept saying, “We didn’t bring along any bread.”
⁸ Knowing this, Jesus asked them, “You who have little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you don’t have any bread? ⁹ Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected, ¹⁰ or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many baskets you collected? ¹¹ How can you fail to understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

⁴⁵ But they didn’t know what this meant. Indeed, the meaning was hidden from them so that they didn’t understand it; and they were afraid to ask him about this statement.

⁸ I delight to do your will, my God. Your Law is part of my inner being.”

¹ Good News of Deliverance “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners; ² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; ³ to provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” “Then people will call them “Oaks of Righteousness”, “The Planting of the LORD”, in order to display his splendor.

³⁹ Going on a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, “O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not what I want but what you want.”

⁴ “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. He leaves the 99 in the wilderness and looks for the one that is lost until he finds it, doesn’t he? ⁵ When he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶ Then he goes home, calls his friends and neighbors together, and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I’ve found my lost sheep!’

¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you that there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

¹⁰ and the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

³² But he told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

³⁰ I can do nothing on my own accord. I judge according to what I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

³⁶ “But I have a greater testimony than John’s, because the actions that the Father has given me to complete—the very actions that I am doing—testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.

³³ The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁸ I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

⁴ I glorified you on earth by completing the task you gave me to do.

³⁰ After Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.

² fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³⁷ Then he told his disciples, “The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. ³⁸ So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

² So he instructed them, “The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest. ³ Get going! See, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

³⁰ The people left the town and started on their way to him.

³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who wins people is wise.

³ Those who manifest wisdom will shine like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who turn many to righteousness will shine like the stars for ever and ever.

¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles.

²² But now that you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves, the benefit you reap is sanctification, and the result is eternal life.

⁵ Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They’re merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept everything growing. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is significant, but God, who keeps everything growing, is the one who matters. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own action. ⁹ For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s farmland and God’s building.

¹⁹ Although I am free from everyone’s expectations, I have made myself a servant to all of them to win more people. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the Law I became like a man under the Law, in order to win those under the Law (although I myself am not under the Law). ²¹ To those who do not have the Law, I became like a man who does not have the Law in order to win those who do not have the Law. However, I am not free from God’s Law, but I’m subject to the Messiah’s law. ²² To the weak I became weak in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some of them. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel in order to have a share in its blessings.

¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and innocent, God’s children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I will be proud when the Messiah returns that I did not run in vain or work hard in vain.

¹⁹ After all, who is our hope, joy, or reason for rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? It is you, isn’t it?

¹⁶ Pay close attention to your life and your teaching. Persevere in these things, because if you do so, you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.

⁷ I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith. ⁸ The victor’s crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on the day that he comes, and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for his appearing.

¹⁹ My brothers, if one of you wanders away from the truth and somebody brings him back, ²⁰ you may be sure that whoever brings a sinner back from his wrong path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

³ Whenever the Israelis sowed their crops, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups from the east would come up and invade them.

⁸ what I’ve planted, let another eat or let my crops be uprooted.”

¹⁵ You’ll plant, but you won’t reap. You’ll crush the olive harvest, but you’ll have no oil to anoint yourself. You’ll tread out the grapes, but you’ll never drink wine.

²¹ because I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You withdraw what you didn’t deposit and harvest what you didn’t plant.’

¹⁵ The LORD God of their ancestors pleaded with them time and again through his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on the place of his residence,

⁴ Yet I sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again, saying, “Don’t do this repulsive thing that I hate.”

¹ John the Baptist Prepares the Way
About this time, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Judean wilderness, ² “Repent, because the kingdom from heaven is near!” ³ He was the one the prophet Isaiah was referring to when he said, “He is a voice calling out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight!’” ⁴ John had clothing made of camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist. His diet consisted of grasshoppers and wild honey.
⁵ Then the people of Jerusalem, all Judea, and the entire region along the Jordan began flocking to him, ⁶ being baptized by him in the Jordan River while they confessed their sins.

²³ Jesus Ministers to Many People
Then he went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every illness among the people.

⁸ Really, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? See, those who wear fancy clothes live in kings’ houses. ⁹ Really, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and even more than a prophet! ¹⁰ This is the man about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
¹¹ I tell all of you with certainty, among those born of women no one has appeared who is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom from heaven is greater than he.
¹² “From the days of John the Baptist until the present, the kingdom from heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people have been attacking it, ¹³ because the Law and all the Prophets prophesied up to the time of John.

⁷ He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe because of him.

⁴¹ So those who welcomed his message were baptized. That day about 3,000 people were added to their number.

⁴ But many of those who heard their message believed, and the men grew to number about 5,000.

³² The Believers Share Their PossessionsNow all the believers were one in heart and soul, and nobody called any of his possessions his own. Instead, they shared everything they owned.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, believers were being added to the Lord in increasing numbers—both men and women.

⁷ So the word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem continued to grow rapidly. Even a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

⁴ Some Samaritans Become BelieversNow those who were scattered went from place to place preaching the word.

¹⁴ Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵ They went down and prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ Before this, he had not come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

³⁷ You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached. ³⁸ God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, he went around doing good and healing everyone who was oppressed by the devil.

⁴² He also ordered us to preach to the people and to testify solemnly that this is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify to this: everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

¹¹ They tried to find out what era or specific time the Spirit of the Messiah in them kept referring to when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

⁴¹ Many people came to him and kept saying, “John never performed a sign, but everything that John said about this man is true!” ⁴² And many believed in Jesus there.

⁴⁵ The Jewish Council Plans to Kill Jesus
Many of the Jews who had come with Mary and who had observed what Jesus did believed in him.

²⁶ and said, “Let me go, because the dawn has come.”
“I won’t let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.”

¹³ Hold on to instruction, do not let it go! Guard wisdom, because she is your life!

⁴ I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and wouldn’t let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me.

⁸ Hope of Israel, its deliverer in time of trouble, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who sets up his tent for a night?

³⁸ Now the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Jesus to let him go with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,

³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what he was saying.

⁵ When Jesus came to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ Zacchaeus came down quickly and was glad to welcome him into his home.
⁷ But all the people who saw this began to complain: “Jesus is going to be the guest of a notorious sinner!”
⁸ Later, Zacchaeus stood up and announced to the Lord, “Look! I’m giving half of my possessions to the destitute, and if I have accused anyone falsely, I’m repaying four times as much as I owe.”
⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Today salvation has come to this home, because this man is also a descendant of Abraham, ¹⁰ and the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

²⁹ But they strongly urged him, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the daylight is nearly gone.” So he went in to stay with them.

¹⁵ When she and her family were baptized, she urged us, “If you are convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she continued to insist that we do so.

¹ Workers with GodSince, then, we are working with God, we plead with you not to accept God’s grace in vain. ² For he says, “At the right time I heard you, and on a day of salvation I helped you.” Listen, now is really the “right time”! Now is the “day of salvation”!

²⁰ Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me.

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, the crowds were utterly amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he was teaching them like a person who had authority, and not like their scribes.

³² They were utterly amazed at what he taught, because his message was spoken with authority.

⁶³ It’s the Spirit who gives life; the flesh accomplishes nothing. The words that I’ve spoken to you are spirit and life.

⁴⁶ The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like that!”

¹² But when Philip proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and about the name of Jesus the Messiah, men and women believed and were baptized.

²⁵ After they had given their testimony and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, continuing to proclaim the good news in many Samaritan villages.

³ They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers.

⁴ My message and my preaching were not accompanied by clever, wise words, but by a display of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.

²² Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

¹⁰ The LORD has bared his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he is the one who will save his people from their sins.”

¹⁰ Then the angel told them, “Stop being afraid! Listen! I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today your Savior, the Lord Messiah, was born in the City of David.

³² a light that will reveal salvation to unbelievers and bring glory to your people Israel.”

²⁹ The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life. ¹⁷ Because God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 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 unique Son.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ Besides, we have believed and remain convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

¹⁷ Jesus the Resurrection and the LifeWhen Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

⁸ because the words that you gave me I passed on to them. They have received them and know for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

¹² There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

¹¹ These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so. ¹² Many of them believed, including a large number of prominent Greek women and men.

¹¹ The Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will never be ashamed.” ¹² There is no difference between Jew and Greek, because they all have the same Lord, who gives richly to all who call on him. ¹³ “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁹ for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us.

¹⁰ To this end we work hard and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, that is, of those who believe.

¹⁴ We have seen for ourselves and can testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

¹³ He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,

²¹ A Canaanite Woman’s Faith
Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!” ²³ But he didn’t answer her at all.
Then his disciples came up and kept urging him, “Send her away, because she keeps on screaming as she follows us.”
²⁴ But he replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

²⁷ But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.”

⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days.

⁴⁶ So Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Meanwhile, in Capernaum there was a government official whose son was ill.

⁸ For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors,

⁵⁷ And they were offended by him.
But Jesus told them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown and in his own home.”

⁴ Jesus had been telling them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own home.”

²⁴ He added, “I tell all of you with certainty, a prophet is not accepted in his hometown.

¹⁶ “Every male must appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents. He must not appear in the LORD’s presence empty-handed,

²³ Jesus Ministers to Many People
Then he went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every illness among the people. ²⁴ His fame spread throughout Syria, and people brought to him everyone who was sick—those afflicted with various diseases and pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralyzed—and he healed them.

⁴² When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to the festival as usual. ⁴³ When the days of the festival were over, they left for home. The young man Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. ⁴⁴ They thought that he was in their group of travelers. After traveling for a day, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

⁴⁰ Jesus Heals a Woman and Resurrects a Girl
When Jesus came back, the crowd welcomed him, because everyone was expecting him.

¹³ Confrontation in the Temple over Money
The Jewish Passover was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as moneychangers sitting at their tables. ¹⁵ After making a whip out of cords, he drove all of them out of the Temple, including the sheep and the cattle. He scattered the coins of the moneychangers and knocked over their tables.
¹⁶ Then he told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

²³ Jesus Knows All PeopleWhile Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, many people believed in him because they saw the signs that he was doing.

² He came to Jesus at night and told him, “Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, because no one can perform these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.”

²⁸ Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah as far as Great Sidon.

¹⁵ Call on me in the day of distress; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”

³⁴ When he struck them, they sought him; they repented, and eagerly sought God.

¹⁵ “I will leave and go back to my place until they admit their offense and seek my face. When affliction comes to them, they will eagerly seek me.”

¹⁸ Jesus Heals a Woman and Resurrects a Girl
While Jesus was telling them these things, an official came up and fell down before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”

²² Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!”

¹⁴ Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
As they approached the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, knelt down in front of him, ¹⁵ and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and suffers terribly. Often he falls into fire and often into water.

² There a centurion’s servant, whom he valued highly, was sick and about to die.

⁴² because his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying. While Jesus was on his way, the crowds continued to press in on him.

¹ Jesus Changes Water into WineOn the third day of that week there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told him, “They don’t have any more wine.”
⁴ “How does that concern us, dear lady?” Jesus asked her. “My time hasn’t come yet.”
⁵ His mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
⁶ Now standing there were six stone water jars used for the Jewish rites of purification, each one holding from two to three measures. ⁷ Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the banquet.” So they did.
⁹ When the man in charge of the banquet tasted the water that had become wine (without knowing where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called for the bridegroom ¹⁰ and told him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and the cheap kind when people are drunk. But you have kept the best wine until now!” ¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two of his other disciples were together.

¹ To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah, to the tune of “The Maidens”.
God is the Refuge of His People God is our refuge and strength, a great help in times of distress.

¹ Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
Several days later, Jesus returned to Capernaum and it was reported that he was at home. ² Such a large crowd gathered that there wasn’t room for them, even in front of the door. Jesus was speaking his message to them ³ when some people came and brought him a paralyzed man being carried by four men.

⁵⁵ They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their mats to any place where they heard he was. ⁵⁶ Wherever he went, whether into villages, towns, or farms, people would place their sick in the marketplaces and beg him to let them touch even the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was healed.

⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁶ So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, “Sir, stop troubling yourself, because I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That’s why I didn’t presume to come to you. But just say the word, and let my servant be healed, ⁸ because I, too, am a man under authority and have soldiers under me. I say to one ‘Go’ and he goes, to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my servant ‘Do this’ and he does it.”

⁴¹ Just then a synagogue leader by the name of Jairus arrived. He fell at Jesus’ feet and kept begging him to come to his home,

³ he left Judea and went back to Galilee.

⁵⁴ Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

²¹ Martha told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

³² As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”

³⁸ Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard that Peter was there and sent two men to him and begged him, “Come here quickly!”

¹¹ “How long will this people keep on spurning me and refusing to trust me, despite all the miracles that I’ve done among them?” the LORD asked Moses.

² It gives me great pleasure to tell about the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

²⁷ He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

¹ Interpreting the Time
When the Pharisees and Sadducees arrived, in order to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

²⁴ because false messiahs and false prophets will appear and display great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

⁴² “He saved others but can’t save himself! He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.

²² because false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens to deceive, if possible, the elect.

¹⁸ He told them, “I watched Satan falling from heaven like lightning.

³¹ “Then Abraham told him, ‘If your brothers do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.’”

¹⁸ Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “What sign can you show us as authority for doing these things?”

⁴¹ And many more believed because of what he said. ⁴² They kept telling the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, because now we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the Savior of the world.”

³⁷ The Unbelief of the JewsAlthough he had performed numerous signs in their presence, they did not believe in him,

²⁴ If I hadn’t done among them the actions that no one else did, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

²⁹ Jesus told him, “Is it because you’ve seen me that you have believed? How blessed are those who have never seen me and yet have believed!”

¹⁹ I will display wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.

²² “Fellow Israelis, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a man authenticated to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed through him among you, as you yourselves know.

⁴³ A sense of fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.

³⁰ as you stretch out your hand to heal and to perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

¹² The Apostles Perform Many MiraclesNow many signs and wonders were being performed by the apostles among the people, who were gathered together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

⁸ Stephen is ArrestedNow Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

³⁶ It was he who led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for 40 years.

³ They stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak boldly for the Lord, who kept affirming his word of grace and granting signs and wonders to be done by them.

¹² The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.

¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.

²² Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom,

¹² The signs of an apostle were performed among you with utmost patience—signs, wonders, and powerful actions.

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous signs, lying wonders,

⁴ while God added his testimony through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

¹⁷ But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think about me. You are my help and deliverer. My God, do not tarry too long!

¹⁰ Can you perform wonders for the dead? Can departed spirits stand up to praise you? Interlude ¹¹ Can your gracious love be declared in the grave or your faithfulness in Abaddon? ¹² Can your awesome deeds be known in darkness or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

²³ and begged him urgently, saying, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader’s home and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?”
³⁶ But when Jesus heard what they said, he told the synagogue leader, “Stop being afraid! Just keep on believing.”

¹³ But Elijah told her, “You can stop being afraid. Go and do what you said, but first make me a muffin and bring it to me. Then make a meal for yourself and for your son, ¹⁴ because this is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘That jar of flour will not run out, nor will that bottle of oil become empty until the very day that the LORD sends rain on the surface of the ground.’”
¹⁵ So she went out and did precisely what Elijah told her to do. As a result, Elijah, the widow, and her son were fed for days.

¹³ “Go,” Jesus told the centurion, “and it will be done for you, just as you have believed.” And his servant was healed that very hour.

²⁹ Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.

²³ Jesus told him, “‘If you are able?’ Everything is possible for the person who believes!”
²⁴ With tears flowing, the child’s father at once cried out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief!”

¹⁴ When Jesus saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were made clean.

⁴⁰ Jesus told her, “I told you that if you believed you would see God’s glory, didn’t I?”

⁹ He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ he said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Then the man jumped up and began to walk.

²⁰ nor did he doubt God’s promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, his faith became stronger and he gave glory to God, ²¹ being absolutely convinced that God would do what he had promised.

¹⁹ Abraham was certain that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did get Isaac back in this way.

²³ Then Elijah took the little boy downstairs from the upper chamber back into the main house and delivered him to his mother. “Look,” Elijah told her, “your son is alive.”

⁵⁰ Jesus told him, “Go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and started back home.

⁵³ Then the father realized that this was the very hour when Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole family.

⁹ because he spoke and it came to be, because he commanded, it stood firm.

²⁰ He issued his command and healed them; he delivered them from their destruction.

⁸ The centurion replied, “Sir, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed, ⁹ because I, too, am a man under authority and I have soldiers under me. I say to one of them ‘Go’ and he goes, to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my servant ‘Do this’ and he does it.”

⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Today salvation has come to this home, because this man is also a descendant of Abraham,

³⁹ For this promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are distant, whom the Lord our God may call to himself.”

¹⁴ He will discuss with you how you and your entire household will be saved.’

³⁴ He brought Paul and Silas upstairs into his house and set food before them. He was thrilled, as was his household, to believe in God.

⁸ Now Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole family. Many Corinthians who heard Paul also believed and were baptized.

⁴⁵ When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen everything that he had done in Jerusalem during the festival and because they, too, had gone to the festival.