Romans 16 Cross References - ISV

¹ Personal GreetingsNow I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess in the church at Cenchrea. ² Welcome her in the Lord as is appropriate for saints, and provide her with anything she may need from you, for she has assisted many people, including me.
³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me for the Messiah Jesus, ⁴ and who risked their necks for my life. I am thankful to them, and so are all the churches among the gentiles. ⁵ Greet also the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first convert to the Messiah in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who are in prison with me and are prominent among the apostles. They belonged to the Messiah before I did. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in the Messiah, and my dear friend Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who has been approved by the Messiah. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet those in the family of Narcissus, who belong to the Lord. ¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has toiled diligently for the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, the one chosen by the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints who are with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of the Messiah greet you.
¹⁷ Final WarningNow I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and sinful enticements that oppose the teaching you have learned. Stay away from them, ¹⁸ because such people are not serving the Messiah our Lord, but their own desires. By their smooth talk and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. ¹⁹ For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you!
²¹ Final GreetingTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews. ²² I, Tertius, who penned this letter, greet you in the Lord. ²³ Gaius, who is host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you. ²⁴ May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you!
²⁵ Final DoxologyNow to the one who is able to strengthen you with my gospel and the message that I preach about Jesus, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago ²⁶ but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith— ²⁷ to the only wise God, through Jesus the Messiah, be glory forever! Amen.

⁵⁰ because whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

³⁰ who will not receive a hundred times as much here in this world—homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields, along with persecution—as well as eternal life in the age to come.

³ Joanna, the wife of Herod’s household manager Chuza; Susanna; and many others. These women continued to support them out of their personal resources.

¹⁸ Paul’s Return Trip to AntiochAfter staying there for quite a while longer, Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, since he was under a vow.

¹ Ministers of the New CovenantAre we beginning to recommend ourselves again? Unlike some people, we do not need letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?

² older women like mothers, and younger women like sisters, with absolute purity.

⁹ A widow may be put on the widows’ list if she is at least sixty years old and has been the wife of one husband. ¹⁰ She must be well known for her good actions as a woman who has raised children, welcomed strangers, washed the saints’ feet, helped the suffering, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.

¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister does not have any clothes or daily food

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. ²³ For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish—by the living and everlasting word of God.

⁴⁰ Rewards
“The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹ The one who receives a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 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.”

⁴⁰ The king will answer them, ‘I tell all of you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

³⁶ Tabitha is HealedIn Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was known for her good actions and acts of charity that she was always doing.

³⁹ So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him upstairs. All the widows gathered around Peter, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴¹ He extended his hand and helped her get up. Then he called the saints, including the widows, and gave her back to them alive.

⁷ Therefore, accept one another, just as the Messiah accepted you, for the glory of God.

³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me for the Messiah Jesus, ⁴ and who risked their necks for my life. I am thankful to them, and so are all the churches among the gentiles.

⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you.

⁹ Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in the Messiah, and my dear friend Stachys.

²³ Gaius, who is host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.

³ Do not let sexual sin, impurity of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints.

²⁷ Standing Firm in One SpiritThe only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah. Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I may hear all about you—that you are standing firm in one spirit, struggling with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

²⁹ So joyfully welcome him in the Lord and make sure you honor such people highly,

¹⁴ Nevertheless, it was kind of you to share my troubles.
¹⁵ You Philippians also know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church participated with me in the matter of giving and receiving except for you. ¹⁶ Even while I was in Thessalonica, you provided for my needs not once, but twice. ¹⁷ It is not that I am looking for a gift. No, I want to see that you receive the fruit that increases to your benefit. ¹⁸ I have been paid in full and have more than enough. I am fully supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent—a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus.

¹⁰ Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about him. If he comes to you, welcome him.

¹⁰ but through good actions. This is proper for women who claim to revere God.

¹⁸ May the Lord grant that he finds mercy on the day he comes again. You know very well how much he assisted me in Ephesus.

³ Likewise, older women are to show their reverence for God by their behavior. They are not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of goodness.

¹² As I send him back, it’s like I’m coming along with him.

¹⁷ So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.

¹⁰ If anyone comes to you but does not present his teachings, do not receive him into your house or even welcome him,

⁵ Dear friend, you are faithful in whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. ⁶ They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ⁷ After all, they went on their trip for the sake of the Name, accepting no support from gentiles. ⁸ Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can become genuine helpers with them.
⁹ Criticism of DiotrephesI wrote a letter to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, will not recognize our authority. ¹⁰ For this reason, when I come I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with that, he refuses to receive the brothers. He even tries to stop those who want to accept them and throws them out of the church.

² There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them, ³ and because they had the same trade he stayed with them. They worked together because they were tentmakers by trade. ⁴ Every Sabbath, he would speak in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶ But when they began to oppose him and insult him, he shook out his clothes in protest and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”
⁷ Then he left that place and went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, who worshipped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue. 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.
⁹ One night, the Lord told Paul in a vision, “Stop being afraid to speak out! Don’t remain silent! ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you or harm you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ So Paul lived there for a year and a half and continued to teach the word of God among the people there.
¹² While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jewish leaders gathered together, attacked Paul, and brought him before the judge’s seat. ¹³ They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the Law.”
¹⁴ Paul was about to speak when Gallio admonished the Jewish leaders, “If there were some misdemeanor or crime involved, it would be reasonable to put up with you Jews. ¹⁵ But since it is a question about words, names, and your own Law, you will have to take care of that yourselves. I refuse to be a judge in these matters.” ¹⁶ So he drove them away from the judge’s seat. ¹⁷ Then all of them took Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judge’s seat. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained God’s way to him more accurately.

¹⁶ to submit yourselves to people like these and to anyone else who shares their labor and hard work.

¹⁹ Final GreetingsThe churches in Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca and the church in their house greet you warmly in union with the Lord.

¹⁹ Final GreetingGreet Prisca and Aquila and the family of Onesiphorus.

²⁴ When they had brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel and spoke to the leaders of the men who had gone out to war along with him, “Come close and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came near and put their feet on their necks.

⁴¹ You made my enemies turn and run— that is, those who hate me— and I destroyed them!

³ “Therefore this is what the LORD says, ‘I’m crafting evil against this family, from which you can’t escape. You won’t strut around arrogantly, because the times are evil.’

¹³ No one shows greater love than when he lays down his life for his friends.

⁴¹ He went through Syria and Cilicia and strengthened the churches.

⁵ So the churches continued to be strengthened in the faith and to increase in numbers every day.

⁷ For it is rare for anyone to die for a righteous person, though somebody might be brave enough to die for a good person.

¹⁷ Live according to God’s CallNevertheless, everyone should live the life that the Lord gave him and to which God called him. This is my rule in all the churches.

¹ Concerning the Collection for the SaintsNow concerning the collection for the saints, you should follow the directions I gave to the churches in Galatia.

³⁰ because he came close to death for the work of the Messiah by risking his life to complete what remained unfinished in your service to me.

¹⁴ For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in union with the Messiah Jesus. You suffered the same persecutions from the people of your own country as they did from those Jews

¹⁶ This is how we have come to know love: the Messiah gave his life for us. We, too, ought to give our lives for our brothers.

⁴ From John to the seven churches in Asia. May grace and peace be yours from the one who is, who was, and who is coming, from the seven spirits who are in front of his throne,

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

¹² While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jewish leaders gathered together, attacked Paul, and brought him before the judge’s seat.

²⁷ When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who, through God’s grace, had believed.

¹⁶ If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.

²⁶ because the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard for the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has toiled diligently for the Lord.

¹⁵ Now I urge you, brothers—for you know that the members of the family of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to serving the saints—

¹ Paul Greets the Church in CorinthFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.
To: God’s church in Corinth, and to all the holy people throughout Achaia.

² For I know how willing you are, and I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has stimulated most of them.

¹⁵ Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, especially to Nympha and the church that is in her house.

² to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.

¹⁸ In accordance with his will he made us his children by the word of truth, so that we might become the most important of his creatures.

¹ Greetings from JohnFrom: The Elder
To: My dear friend Gaius, whom I genuinely love.

⁴ They have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins, and they follow the lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from among humanity as the first fruits for God and the lamb.

⁵⁵ Now many women were also there, watching from a distance. They had accompanied Jesus from Galilee and had ministered to him.

¹⁰ She must be well known for her good actions as a woman who has raised children, welcomed strangers, washed the saints’ feet, helped the suffering, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.

¹⁷ But Israel will be saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you won’t be put to shame or disgraced ever again.”

²⁵ In the LORD all the descendants of Israel will triumph and make their boast.”

⁵⁶ The person who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

²⁰ At that time, you’ll know that I am in my Father, that you are in me, and that I am in you.

² He cuts off every branch that does not produce fruit in me, and he cuts back every branch that does produce fruit, so that it might produce more fruit.

¹ The Spirit Gives LifeTherefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

¹¹ Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet those in the family of Narcissus, who belong to the Lord.

²¹ Final GreetingTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.

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.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and—look!—all things have become new!

²¹ God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God’s righteousness would be produced in us.

²³ Are they the Messiah’s servants? I am insane to talk like this, but I am a far better one! I have been involved in far greater efforts, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, and have faced death more than once.

²² But the churches of the Messiah that are in Judea did not yet know me personally.

² I went in response to a revelation, and in a private meeting with the reputed leaders, I explained to them the gospel that I’m proclaiming to the gentiles. I did this because I was afraid that I was running or had run my life’s race for nothing.

⁶ Now those who were reputed to be important added nothing to my message. (What sort of people they were makes no difference to me, since God pays no attention to outward appearances.)

⁶ for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love.

¹⁵ For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

²³ Greetings from Paul’s Fellow WorkersEpaphras, my fellow prisoner in the Messiah Jesus, sends you greetings,

¹³ This is how we know that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us his Spirit.

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.

⁹ John’s Vision of the MessiahI am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.

⁵ Greet also the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first convert to the Messiah in Asia.

¹ Closing ExhortationsTherefore, my dear brothers whom I long for, my joy and my victor’s crown, this is how you must stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.

¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love remains spiritually dead.

² Welcome her in the Lord as is appropriate for saints, and provide her with anything she may need from you, for she has assisted many people, including me.
³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me for the Messiah Jesus,

² Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way these 40 years in the desert, to humble and test you in order to make known what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

¹⁸ For the person who serves the Messiah in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.

¹⁹ Of course, there must be factions among you to show which of you are genuine!

⁹ I had also written to you to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in every way.

²² We have also sent with them our brother whom we have often tested in many ways and found to be dedicated. At present he is more dedicated than ever because he has so much confidence in you.

²² But you know his proven worth—how like a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

¹⁰ But they must first be tested. Then, if they prove to be blameless, they may become ministers.

⁷ so that your genuine faith, which is more valuable than gold that perishes when tested by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, the Messiah, is revealed.

⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who are in prison with me and are prominent among the apostles. They belonged to the Messiah before I did.

³⁸ So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

¹⁰ But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others—not I, of course, but God’s grace that was with me.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that the work that you do for the Lord isn’t wasted.

²⁹ I work hard and struggle to do this, using the energy that he powerfully provides in me.

¹² Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of the Messiah Jesus, sends you his greetings. He is always wrestling in his prayers for you, so that you may stand mature, completely convinced of the entire will of God.

³ In the presence of our God and Father, we constantly remember how your faith is active, your love is hard at work, and your hope in our Lord Jesus the Messiah is enduring.

¹² Paul Gives Final Instructions to the ChurchBrothers, we ask you to show your appreciation for those who work among you, set an example for you in the Lord, and instruct you. ¹³ Hold them in the highest regard, loving them because of their work. Live in peace with each other.

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.

¹⁷ Elders and Their DutiesElders who handle their duties well should be considered worthy of double compensation, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out grain,” and, “A worker deserves his pay.”

¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have ministered to the saints and continue to minister to them. ¹¹ But we want each of you to continue to be diligent to the very end, in order to give full assurance to your hope.

⁴⁹ Then pointing with his hand at his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers, ⁵⁰ because whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

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

³⁵ Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

²¹ Jesus is Crucified
They forced a certain passer-by named Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, who happened to be coming in from the country, to carry Jesus’ cross.

¹⁶ “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

²⁷ Then he told the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

⁴ just as he chose us in the Messiah before the creation of the universe to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love

¹³ At all times we are obligated to thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you to be the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through faith in the truth.

¹ Greetings from JohnFrom: The Elder
To: The chosen lady and her children, whom I genuinely love, and not only I but also all who know the truth,

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers.

² To: The holy and faithful brothers in Colossae who are in union with the Messiah.
May grace and peace from God our Father be yours!

¹ The Messiah is Superior to MosesTherefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.

²¹ Then your people will all be righteous; They’ll possess the land forever. They are the shoot that the LORD planted, the works of his hands, so that I might be glorified.

⁷ To: Everyone in Rome, loved by God and called to be holy.
May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

² Welcome her in the Lord as is appropriate for saints, and provide her with anything she may need from you, for she has assisted many people, including me.

¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.

¹ Greetings from PaulFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by God’s will.
To: His holy and faithful people in Ephesus who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.
² the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood.
May grace and peace be yours in abundance!

³⁷ All of them cried and cried as they put their arms around Paul and kissed him affectionately.

²⁰ All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

¹² Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²⁶ Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

¹⁴ Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace be to all of you who are in the Messiah!

⁷ How terrible it will be for the world due to its temptations to sin! Temptations to sin are bound to happen, but how terrible it will be for that person who causes someone to sin!

¹⁷ If, however, he ignores them, tell it to the congregation. If he also ignores the congregation, regard him as an unbeliever and a tax collector.

¹ Causing Others to Sin
Jesus told his disciples, “It is inevitable that temptations to sin will come, but how terrible it will be for the person through whom they come!

¹ Controversy about the LawThen some men came down from Judea and started to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you can’t be saved.” ² Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. 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 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done through them. ⁵ But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The gentiles must be circumcised and ordered to keep the Law of Moses.”

²⁴ We have heard that some men, coming from us without instructions from us, have said things to trouble you and have unsettled you.

¹⁰ Divisions in the ChurchBrothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, I urge all of you to be in agreement and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions. ¹¹ My brothers, some members of Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to the Messiah.”
¹³ Is the Messiah divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? You weren’t baptized in Paul’s name, were you?

³ That’s because you are still worldly. As long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, you are worldly and living by human standards, aren’t you?

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter to stop associating with people who are sexually immoral— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, greedy, robbers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you to stop associating with any so-called brother if he is sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunk, or a robber. You must even stop eating with someone like that.

¹⁸ For in the first place, I hear that when you gather as a church there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it.

⁷ not that another one really exists. To be sure, there are certain people who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel about the Messiah. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned! ⁹ What we have told you in the past I am now telling you again: If anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that person be condemned!

⁴ However, false brothers were secretly brought in. They slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in the Messiah Jesus so that they might enslave us.

² Beware of the dogs! Beware of the evil workers! Beware of the mutilators! 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,

¹⁷ True and False TeachersJoin together in imitating me, brothers, and pay close attention to those who live by the example we have set for you.

⁸ See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah,

⁶ In the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is living in idleness and not living according to the tradition that they received from us.

¹⁴ If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of him. Have nothing to do with him so that he will feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet, don’t treat him like an enemy, but warn him like a brother.

³ A Warning against False TeachersWhen I was on my way to Macedonia, I urged you to stay in Ephesus so that you could instruct certain people to stop teaching false doctrine

³ Rules for Godly LivingIf anyone teaches false doctrine and refuses to agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and godly teaching, ⁴ he is a conceited person and does not understand anything. He has an unhealthy craving for arguments and debates. This produces jealousy, rivalry, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and incessant conflict between people who are depraved in mind and deprived of truth. They think that godliness is a way to make a profit.

⁵ They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.

¹⁰ Have nothing to do with a divisive person after you have warned him once or twice.

¹ Warning against False TeachersNow there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned.

¹⁹ They left us, but they were not part of us, for if they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Their leaving made it clear that none of them was really part of us.

⁷ Reject False TeachersFor many deceivers have gone out into the world. They refuse to acknowledge Jesus the Messiah as having become human. Any such person is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸ See to it that you don’t destroy what we have worked for, but that you receive your full reward. ⁹ Everyone who does not remain true to the teaching of the Messiah, but goes beyond it, does not have God. The person who remains true to the teaching of the Messiah has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you but does not present his teachings, do not receive him into your house or even welcome him, ¹¹ because the one who welcomes him shares in his evil deeds.

¹⁹ These are the people who cause divisions. They are worldly, devoid of the Spirit.

¹² Eli’s Wicked SonsNow the sons of Eli were worthless men who did not know the LORD. ¹³ The custom of the priests with the people was that whenever a person offered a sacrifice, a servant of the priest would come with a three pronged fork in his hand while the meat was boiling, and ¹⁴ he would stick it into the boiler or pot, and take everything the fork brought up—that is, the priest would take it for himself. This is what they were supposed to do with all the Israelis who came there to Shiloh. ¹⁵ But even before they burned the fat, the servant of the priest would come and say to the person offering the sacrifice, “Give me meat to roast for the priest. He won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.” ¹⁶ If the man told him, “They must surely burn up the fat first, and then take for yourself whatever you desire,” the servant would say, “No, give it now, and if you don’t, I’ll take it by force!” ¹⁷ By doing this, the sin of the young men was very serious in the LORD’s sight because the men despised the LORD’s offering.

²⁹ Why, then, do all of you show contempt for my sacrifice and offering that I’ve commanded for my dwelling? And you honor your sons more than me in order to fatten yourselves from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel.’

⁵ So the king of Israel gathered together 400 prophets and asked them, “Should we go attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I call off the attack?”
“Go attack them,” they all said, “because God will drop them right in the king’s hand.”

¹² Micaiah the True Prophet Warns Ahab and Jehoshaphat
Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone off to summon Micaiah advised him, “Look, everything that the other prophets were saying has been unanimously favorable to the king. So please, cooperate with them and speak favorably.”
¹³ “As the LORD lives,” Micaiah replied, “I’ll say what my God tells me to say.”
¹⁴ When Micaiah approached the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?”
“Go to war,” Micaiah replied, “and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!”
¹⁵ When he heard this, the king asked him, “How many times do I have to ask you? Tell me nothing but the truth, and do it in the name of the LORD!”
¹⁶ And so Micaiah replied: I saw all of Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD told me, ‘These have no master, so let them each return to his own home in peace.’”
¹⁷ Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he wouldn’t prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?”

⁷ God’s Revelation in the LawThe Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring life. The testimony of the LORD is steadfast, making foolish people wise.

¹³⁰ The disclosure of your words illuminates, providing understanding to the simple.

⁵ Understand prudence, you naïve people; and gain an understanding heart, you foolish ones.

¹⁵ An unthinking person believes everything, but the prudent one thinks before acting.

³ The prudent person sees trouble ahead and hides, but the naive continue on and suffer the consequences.

¹⁰ They say to the seers, ‘Don’t see visions,’ and to the prophets, ‘Don’t give us visions of what is right! Instead, tell us welcome things, prophesy illusions, ¹¹ get out of the way, turn aside from the path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel.”

¹⁰ His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge. They are all dumb dogs— they cannot bark. They keep on dreaming and lying around, and they’re lovers of sleep! ¹¹ Meanwhile, the dogs have a mighty appetite— they can never get enough. And as for them, they are the shepherds who lack understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, each and every one. ¹² “‘Come!’ they say, ‘let’s have some wine, and let’s fill ourselves with strong drink! Then, tomorrow will be like today, or even much better!’”

¹⁰ Therefore, I’ll give their wives to others, and their fields to new owners. Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they’re all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully. ¹¹ They have treated my people’s wound superficially, telling them, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

¹⁷ They keep on saying to those who despise me, ‘The LORD has said, “You will have peace.”’ To all who stubbornly follow their own desires they say, ‘Disaster won’t come upon you.’

¹ Jeremiah Challenges a False ProphetIn that same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, Azzur’s son Hananiah, the prophet from Gibeon, told me at the LORD’s Temple in front of the priests and all the people, ² “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I’ve broken the yoke of the king of Babylon, ³ and within two years I’ll bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’s Temple that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from this place and carried to Babylon. ⁴ I’ll bring back Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon to this place,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I’ll break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”
⁵ The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were standing in the LORD’s Temple. ⁶ The prophet Jeremiah said, “May the LORD truly do this thing! May the LORD fulfill the words that you prophesied to bring back the vessels of the LORD’s Temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place. ⁷ But please listen to what I’m saying in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ⁸ The prophets who came before us from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. ⁹ When a prophet prophesies peace, and what the prophet speaks comes about, he will be known as the prophet whom the LORD has truly sent.”

¹⁵ The prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD didn’t send you, and you are causing these people to trust in a lie. ¹⁶ Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘I’m about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you will die because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”
¹⁷ So the prophet Hananiah died in the seventh month of that year.

¹⁶ The prophets of Israel prophesied about Jerusalem and saw visions of peace concerning her, yet there’s no peace,’” declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁹ You’ve profaned me among my people for a handful of barley and a morsel of bread. You’re causing people to die who shouldn’t have to die, and you’re causing people to live who shouldn’t survive, when you deceive my people who tend to listen to lies.”

⁸ They feed on the sin of my people; they purpose in their heart to transgress. ⁹ So it will be: like people, like priest. I will punish them for their lifestyles, rewarding them according to their behavior. ¹⁰ They will eat, but will not be satisfied. They will engage in prostitution, but they won’t increase, because they have stopped listening to the LORD. ¹¹ “Sexual immorality, wine, and fresh wine seduce the heart of my people.

⁵ God’s Judgment against False Prophets“This is what the LORD says about the prophets who are causing my people to go astray, who are calling out ‘Peace’ when they’re being fed, but who declare war against those who won’t feed them:

¹⁰ Useless Offerings and Useless Altar Fires“Oh, that one of you would shut the Temple doors and not light useless fires on the altar! I’m not pleased with you,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, “and I’ll accept no offerings from you.

²⁴ God and Riches
“No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches!”

¹⁵ A Tree is Known by Its Fruit
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are savage wolves.

¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people,

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

⁴⁸ “But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master has been delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunks, ⁵⁰ that servant’s master will come on a day when he doesn’t expect him and at an hour that he doesn’t know. ⁵¹ Then his master will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

¹⁹ For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

¹⁷ At least we are not commercializing God’s word like so many others. Instead, we speak with sincerity in the Messiah’s name, like people who are sent from God and are accountable to God.

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use trickery or pervert God’s word. By clear statements of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

³ However, I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from sincere and pure devotion to the Messiah.

¹³ Such people are false apostles, dishonest workers who are masquerading as apostles of the Messiah. ¹⁴ And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their doom will match their deeds!

¹⁰ Am I now trying to win the approval of people or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be the Messiah’s servant.

²¹ For all the others look after their own interests, not after those of Jesus the Messiah.

¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on worldly things.

⁴ I say this so that no one will mislead you with nice-sounding rhetoric.

²⁴ You know that it is from the Lord that you will receive the inheritance as a reward. It is the Lord Messiah whom you are serving!

¹⁰ and every type of evil to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them.

⁵ and incessant conflict between people who are depraved in mind and deprived of truth. They think that godliness is a way to make a profit.

¹⁶ However, avoid pointless discussions. For people will become more and more ungodly, ¹⁷ and what they say will spread everywhere like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are like that. ¹⁸ They have abandoned the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place, and so they destroy the faith of others.

² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, ⁴ traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. ⁵ They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people. ⁶ For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires.

¹⁰ Guard What is TrueFor there are many people who are rebellious, especially those who are converts from Judaism. They speak utter nonsense and deceive people. ¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are the kind of people who ruin whole families by teaching what they should not teach in order to make money in a shameful way. ¹² One of their very own prophets said, “Liars ever, men of Crete, savage brutes that live to eat.”

¹ GreetingsFrom: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
To: The twelve tribes in the Dispersion.
Greetings.

³ In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed.

¹⁰ especially those who satisfy their flesh by indulging in its passions and who despise authority.
Being bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to slander glorious beings. ¹¹ Yet even angels, although they are greater in strength and power, do not bring a slanderous accusation against them from the Lord. ¹² These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don’t understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed, ¹³ suffering harm as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while they eat with you. ¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they cannot get enough of sin. They seduce unsteady souls and have had their hearts expertly trained in greed. They are doomed to a curse. ¹⁵ They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Bosor’s son Balaam, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong.

¹⁸ By talking high-sounding nonsense and using sinful cravings of the flesh, they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ Promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves to depravity, for a person is a slave to whatever conquers him.
²⁰ For if, after escaping the world’s corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah, they are again entangled and conquered by those corruptions, then their last condition is worse than their former one.

¹ Test What People SayDear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
² This is how you can recognize God’s Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah has become human—and remains so—is from God. ³ But every spirit who does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard that he is coming, and now he is already in the world.

¹ GreetingsFrom: Jude, a servant of Jesus the Messiah, and yet a brother of James.
To: Those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus, the Messiah.

¹² These people are stains on your love feasts. They feast with you without any sense of awe. They are shepherds who care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by the winds. They are autumn trees that are fruitless, totally dead, and uprooted.

¹⁶ These people are complainers and faultfinders, following their own desires. They say arrogant things and flatter people in order to take advantage of them.

¹ The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah to the Seven ChurchesThis is the revelation of Jesus the Messiah, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must happen soon. He made it known by sending his messenger to his servant John,

⁹ So give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, so I can discern between good and evil. Otherwise, how will I be able to govern this great people of yours?”
¹⁰ The LORD was pleased that Solomon had asked for this, ¹¹ so God told him: “Because you asked for this, and you didn’t ask for a long life for yourself, and you didn’t ask for the lives of your enemies, but instead you’ve asked for discernment so you can understand how to govern, ¹² look how I’m going to do precisely what you asked. I’m giving you a wise and discerning mind, so that there will have been no one like you before you and no one will arise after you like you.

² I will pay attention to living a life of integrity— when will I attain it? I will live with integrity of heart in my house.

² The Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. ³ His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He won’t judge by what his eyes see, nor decide disputes by what his ears hear,

²² The LORD’s Complaint about His People“For my people are foolish, they don’t know me. They’re stupid children, they have no understanding. They’re skilled at doing evil, but how to do good, they don’t know.”

¹⁶ Future Persecutions
“Pay attention, now! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves.

³ Get going! See, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

⁸ Paul’s Prayer and Desire to Visit RomeFirst of all, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world.

²⁰ Brothers, stop being childish in your thinking. Be like infants with respect to evil, but think like adults.

¹⁵ Paul’s Prayer for the EphesiansTherefore, because I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the most glorious Father, would give you a wise spirit, along with revelation that comes through knowing the Messiah fully. ¹⁸ Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence that is produced by God having called you, the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints,

¹⁷ Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love will keep on growing more and more with full knowledge and insight,

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

³ Paul’s Prayer for the ColossiansWe give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, praying always for you, ⁴ because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ based on the hope laid up for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. ⁷ You learned about this gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiah on your behalf. ⁸ He has told us about your love in the Spirit.
⁹ The Messiah is Above AllFor this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

¹⁶ Let the word of the Messiah inhabit you richly with wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and singing to God with thankfulness in your hearts.

² Paul’s Prayer for the ThessaloniansWe always thank God for all of you when we mention you in our prayers. ³ In the presence of our God and Father, we constantly remember how your faith is active, your love is hard at work, and your hope in our Lord Jesus the Messiah is enduring.

⁸ From you the word of the Lord has spread out not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place where your faith in God has become known. As a result, we do not need to say anything about it.
⁹ For people keep telling us what kind of welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve a living and true God

⁶ Paul Rejoices about the ThessaloniansBut Timothy has just now returned from visiting you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, just as we want to see you. ⁷ That’s why, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you by your faith. ⁸ For now we can go on living, as long as you continue to stand firm in the Lord. ⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in God’s presence because of you? ¹⁰ We pray very hard night and day that we may see you again face to face, so that we may equip you with whatever is lacking in your faith.

¹⁵ From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good action.

¹³ Live WiselyWho among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his noble conduct that his actions are done humbly and wisely. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, stop boasting and slandering the truth. ¹⁵ That kind of wisdom does not come from above. No, it is worldly, self-centered, and demonic. ¹⁶ For wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil.
¹⁷ However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds, and without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is grown from the seed of peace planted by peacemakers.

¹⁵ “I’ll place hostility between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He’ll strike you on the head, and you’ll strike him on the heel.”

¹² stared down and subdued every proud person, trampled the wicked right where they are,

⁸ he has swallowed up death forever! Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and he will take away the disgrace of his people from the entire earth.” for the LORD has spoken. ⁹ “And you will say at that time, ‘Look! It’s the LORD! This is our God! We waited for him, and he saved us. This is the LORD! We waited for him, so let us rejoice, and we will be glad that he has saved us.”
¹⁰ The Misery of MoabFor the LORD’s power will rest on this mountain, but the Moabites will be trodden down beneath him, just as straw is trodden down in the slime of a manure pit. ¹¹ They will spread out their hands in the thick of it, just as swimmers spread out their hands to swim, but the LORD will bring down their pride, together with the cleverness of their hands. ¹² He brings down the high fortifications of your walls and lays them low; he will raze them to the ground, right down to the dust.

³ “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from my people no one was with me, I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and I stained all my clothing.

⁵ They will be like mighty soldiers who trample mud in the streets during battle. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and the opposing horsemen will be confused.

³ and trample down the wicked. Indeed, they will become ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I do this,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

¹⁹ Look! I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to destroy all the enemy’s power, and nothing will ever hurt you.

³⁷ In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us.

³³ DoxologyNow may the God who grants peace be with all of you! Amen.

² After the Sabbath ends, each of you should set aside and save something from your surplus in proportion to what you have, so that no collections will have to be made when I arrive. ³ When I arrive, I will send letters along with the men you approve to take your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ If it is worthwhile for me to go, too, they can go with me.

²³ May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you!

¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you!

¹⁸ Final GreetingMay the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with your spirit, brothers! Amen.

²³ May the grace of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with your spirit! Amen.

²⁸ May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with you! Amen.

¹⁸ May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you. Amen.

²² May the Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with all of you! Amen.

²⁵ May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with your spirit! Amen.

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the devil) ¹⁵ and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death.

⁸ The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the devil has been doing.

¹⁰ The Vision of the Cry of VictoryThen I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “Now the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah have come. For the one who accuses our brothers, who accuses them day and night in the presence of our God, has been thrown out.

¹ The Vision of the Millennial ReignThen I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key to the bottomless pit, with a large chain in his hand. ² He captured the dragon, that ancient serpent, also known as the devil and Satan, and tied him up for a thousand years. ³ He threw him into the bottomless pit, locked it, and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were over. After that, he must be set free for a little while.

²¹ May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.
Amen.

¹ Barnabas and Saul Travel to CyprusNow Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen, who grew up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch.

¹ Timothy Joins Paul in LystraPaul also went to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish wife whose husband was a Greek. ² Timothy was highly regarded by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted this man to go with him, so he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who lived in that region, since everyone knew that Timothy’s father was a Greek.

⁵ But the Jewish leaders became jealous, and they took some contemptible characters who used to hang out in the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason’s home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the people.

¹⁴ Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed there.

⁵ But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

²² Then he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia a while longer.

⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater (the son of Pyrrhus) from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

¹⁹ For God’s Son, Jesus the Messiah, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No.” But with him it is always “Yes.”

¹ Greetings from Paul and TimothyFrom: Paul and Timothy, servants of the Messiah Jesus.
To: All the holy ones in Philippi, along with their overseers and ministers, who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

¹⁹ News about Paul’s CompanionsNow I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I can be encouraged when I learn of your condition. ²⁰ I do not have anyone else like him who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. ²¹ For all the others look after their own interests, not after those of Jesus the Messiah. ²² But you know his proven worth—how like a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. ²³ Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things are going to turn out for me.

¹ Greetings from PaulFrom: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.

¹ GreetingsFrom: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
To: The church of the Thessalonians in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

² and send Timothy, our brother who works with us for God in the gospel of the Messiah, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

⁶ Paul Rejoices about the ThessaloniansBut Timothy has just now returned from visiting you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, just as we want to see you.

¹ GreetingsFrom: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
To: The church of the Thessalonians in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
² To: Timothy, my genuine child in the faith.
May grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Messiah Jesus, our Lord, be yours!

¹¹ Advice for TimothyBut you, man of God, must flee from all these things. Instead, you must pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.

²⁰ Final GreetingTimothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the pointless discussions and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.

² To: Timothy, my dear child.
May grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Messiah Jesus our Lord be yours!

²³ You should know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you.

²¹ I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand.

¹¹ A Final Warning against CircumcisionLook at how large these letters are because I am writing with my own hand!

¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether by speech or action, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

²⁹ The city was filled with confusion, and the people rushed into the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s fellow travelers from Macedonia.

¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

²⁰ Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus because he was sick.

¹ Greetings from JohnFrom: The Elder
To: My dear friend Gaius, whom I genuinely love.
² Encouragement for GaiusDear friend, I pray that you are doing well in every way and that you are healthy, just as your soul is healthy. ³ I was overjoyed when some brothers arrived and testified about your truthfulness and how you live according to the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.
⁵ Dear friend, you are faithful in whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. ⁶ They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you!

² I will tell a parable, speaking riddles from long ago—

²² He reveals what is profoundly mysterious and knows what is in the darkness; with him dwells light.

⁷ The LORD’s Purposes“Truly the Lord GOD will do nothing he has mentioned without revealing his purposes to his servants the prophets.

¹⁷ I tell all of you with certainty, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but did not see them, and to hear the things you hear but did not hear them.”

³⁵ This was to fulfill what was declared by the prophet when he said, “I will open my mouth to speak in parables. I will declare what has been hidden since the creation of the world.”

²³ Then turning to his disciples in private, he told them, “How blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴ Because I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but didn’t see them, and to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.”

²⁰ He immediately started to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This is the Son of God.”

³² “I’m now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

¹⁶ on that day when God, through Jesus the Messiah, will judge people’s secrets according to my gospel.

⁴ Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant? He stands or falls before his own Lord—and stand he will, because the Lord makes him stand.

²³ but we preach the Messiah crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to gentiles,

¹ Preaching in the Power of GodWhen I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come and tell you about God’s secret with rhetorical language or wisdom. ² For while I was with you I resolved to know nothing except Jesus the Messiah, and him crucified.

⁷ Instead, we speak about God’s wisdom in a hidden secret, which God destined before the world began for our glory.

¹ Faithful Servants of the MessiahThink of us as servants of the Messiah and as servant managers entrusted with God’s secrets.

³ So if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are dying.

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

⁹ when he made known to us the secret of his will. This was according to his plan that he set forth in the Messiah

³ and how this secret was made known to me through a revelation, just as I wrote about briefly in the past. ⁴ By reading this, you will be able to grasp my understanding of the secret about the Messiah, ⁵ which in previous generations was not made known to human beings as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret:

⁹ and help everyone see how this secret that has been at work was hidden for ages by God, who created all things.

¹¹ in keeping with the eternal purpose that God carried out through the Messiah Jesus our Lord,

²⁰ Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among us— ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in the Messiah Jesus to all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁹ Pray also for me, so that, when I begin to speak, the right words will come to me. Then I will boldly make known the secret of the gospel,

²⁶ This secret was hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints, ²⁷ to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles—which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope.

¹³ Then your hearts will be strong, blameless, and holy in the presence of God, who is our Father, when our Lord Jesus appears with all his saints.

¹⁴ With this purpose in mind, he called you through our proclamation of the gospel so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus, the Messiah himself, and may God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good action and word.

³ But the Lord is faithful and will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

⁹ He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own accomplishments, but according to his own purpose and the grace that was given to us in the Messiah Jesus before time began.

⁸ Meditate on Jesus, the Messiah, who was raised from the dead and is a descendant of David. This is the gospel I tell others.

² which is based on the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.

²⁵ Therefore, because he always lives to intercede for them, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him.

¹⁰ Even the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, carefully researched and investigated this salvation. 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.

²⁰ On the one hand, he was foreknown before the creation of the world, but on the other hand, he was revealed at the end of time for your sake.

¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you.

²⁴ Final PrayerNow to the one who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand joyful and faultless in his glorious presence, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and for all eternity! Amen.

³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD God Everlasting.

²⁷ The God of old is a dwelling place, with everlasting arms underneath. He drove out your enemies before you and said: ‘Destroy them!’

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.

²⁸ Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The LORD is the eternal God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary; and his understanding cannot be fathomed.

² The Ruler from Bethlehem“As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, nevertheless, the one who rules in Israel for me will emerge from you. His existence has been from antiquity, even from eternity.

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, ²⁰ teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age.”

¹⁵ Then he told them, “As you go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to everyone.

⁴⁴ Then he told them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.”
⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is how it is written: the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

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.

³² This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: “Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, and like a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. ³³ In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his descendants? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
³⁴ The eunuch asked Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet talking about? Himself? Or someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip began to speak, and, starting from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.

⁴³ All the prophets testify to this: everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, “We had to speak God’s word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles. ⁴⁷ For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’”

¹⁷ I’ll continue to rescue you from your people and from the gentiles to whom I’m sending you. ¹⁸ You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

²² I’ve had help from God to this day, and so I stand here to testify to both the powerful and the lowly alike, stating only what the prophets and Moses said would happen— ²³ that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and would bring light both to our people and to the gentiles.”

² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures

⁵ Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about faithful obedience among all the gentiles for the sake of his name.

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹ God Gives Us Righteousness through FaithBut now, apart from the Law, God’s righteousness is revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets—

⁴ For everything that was written long ago was written to instruct us, so that we might have hope through the endurance and encouragement that the Scriptures give us.

¹⁸ For I am bold enough to tell you only about what the Messiah has accomplished through me in bringing gentiles to obedience. By my words and actions,

⁸ Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, “Through you all nations will be blessed.”

²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

²⁶ This secret was hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints,

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

¹⁰ Now, however, that grace has been revealed through the coming of our Savior the Messiah Jesus, who has destroyed death and through the gospel has brought life and release from death into full view.

² which is based on the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. ³ At the right time he revealed his message through the proclamation that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.

¹⁴ how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead actions so that we may serve the living God!

⁸ Jesus, the Messiah, is the same yesterday and today—and forever!

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” declares the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.”
⁹ John’s Vision of the MessiahI am John, your brother and partner in the oppression, kingdom, and patience that comes because of Jesus. I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰ I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord, when I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, “Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last,

¹⁰ I bowed down at his feet to worship him, but he told me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who rely on what Jesus is saying. Worship God, because what Jesus is saying is the spirit of prophecy!”

⁵ Our Lord is great, and rich in power; his understanding has no limitation.

³³ In Praise of God’s WaysO how deep are God’s riches, and wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable are his decisions and unexplainable are his ways! ³⁴ Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his adviser?

³⁶ For all things are from him, by him, and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.

⁴ He gave himself for our sins in order to rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father. ⁵ To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

⁷ In union with him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us, along with all wisdom and understanding,

¹⁰ He did this so that now, through the church, the wisdom of God in all its variety might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm

²⁰ Glory belongs to our God and Father forever and ever! Amen.

² Because they are united in love, I pray that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Messiah, who is the mystery of God. ³ In him are stored all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

¹⁶ He alone has endless life and lives in inaccessible light. No one has ever seen him, nor can anyone see him. Honor and eternal power belong to him! Amen.

¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will take me safely to his heavenly kingdom. Glory belongs to him forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁵ Therefore, through him let us always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess his name.

²¹ equip you with everything good to do his will, accomplishing in us what pleases him through Jesus, the Messiah. To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.

⁵ you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah.

¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you. ¹¹ Power belongs to him forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁸ Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.

²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and for all eternity! Amen.

⁵ and from Jesus the Messiah, the witness, the faithful one, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and has made us a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the 24 elders bow down and worship in front of the one who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever. They throw their victor’s crowns in front of the throne and say, ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, because you created all things; they came into existence and were created because of your will.”

⁹ They sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered. With your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. ¹⁰ You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
¹¹ The Vision of the Song of the LambThen I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels, the living creatures, and the elders surrounding the throne. They numbered 10,000’s times 10,000 and thousands times thousands. ¹² They sang with a loud voice, “Worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise!” ¹³ I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying, “To the one who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise, honor, glory, and power forever and ever!” ¹⁴ Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!”, and the elders bowed down and worshipped.

¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!” ¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

¹ The Vision of WorshipAfter these things, I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a large crowd in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God. ² His judgments are true and just. He has condemned the notorious prostitute who corrupted the world with her immorality. He has taken revenge on her for the blood of his servants.” ³ A second time they said, “Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.” ⁴ The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures bowed down and worshipped God, who was sitting on the throne. They said, “Amen! Hallelujah!” ⁵ A voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all who serve and fear him, from the least important to the most important.”
⁶ The Vision of the Marriage Supper of the LambThen I heard what sounded like the voice of a large crowd, like the sound of raging waters, and like the sound of powerful thunderclaps, saying, “Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty, is reigning.