Galatians Cross References - WNT

¹ Paul, an Apostle sent not from men nor by any man, but by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from among the dead-- ² and all the brethren who are with me: To the Churches of Galatia. ³ May grace and peace be granted to you from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave Himself to suffer for our sins in order to rescue us from the present wicked age in accordance with the will of our God and Father. ⁵ To Him be the glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen. ⁶ I marvel that you are so readily leaving Him who called you by the grace of Christ, and are adhering to a different Good News. ⁷ For other "Good News" there is none; but there are some persons who are troubling you, and are seeking to distort the Good News concerning Christ. ⁸ But if even we or an angel from Heaven should bring you a Good News different from that which we have already brought you, let him be accursed. ⁹ What I have just said I repeat--if any one is preaching to you a Good News other than that which you originally received, let him be accursed. ¹⁰ For is it man's favour or God's that I aspire to? Or am I seeking to please men? If I were still a man-pleaser, I should not be Christ's bondservant. ¹¹ For I must tell you, brethren, that the Good News which was proclaimed by me is not such as man approves of. ¹² For, in fact, it was not from man that I received or learnt it, but by a revelation from Jesus Christ. ¹³ For you have heard of my early career in Judaism--how I furiously persecuted the Church of God, and made havoc of it; ¹⁴ and how in devotion to Judaism I outstripped many men of my own age among my people, being far more zealous than they on behalf of the traditions of my forefathers. ¹⁵ But when He who set me apart even from my birth, and called me by His grace, ¹⁶ saw fit to reveal His Son within me in order that I might tell among the Gentiles the Good News concerning Him, at once I did not confer with any human being, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were my seniors in the Apostleship, but I went away into Arabia, and afterwards came back to Damascus. ¹⁸ Then, three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to inquire for Peter, and I spent a fortnight with him. ¹⁹ I saw none of the other Apostles, except James, the Lord's brother. ²⁰ In making these assertions I am speaking the truth, as in the sight of God. ²¹ Afterwards I visited Syria and Cilicia. ²² But to the Christian Churches in Judaea I was personally unknown. ²³ They only heard it said, "He who was once our persecutor is now telling the Good News of the faith of which he formerly made havoc." ²⁴ And they gave glory to God on my account.

¹⁸ Jesus however came near and said to them, "All power in Heaven and over the earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations; baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; ²⁰ and teach them to obey every command which I have given you. And remember, I am with you always, day by day, until the Close of the Age."

¹⁹ "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that the Son can do nothing of Himself--He can only do what He sees the Father doing; for whatever He does, that the Son does in like manner.

³⁰ I and the Father are one."

²¹ A second time, therefore, He said to them, "Peace be to you! As the Father sent me, I also now send you."

¹⁶ "Brethren, it was necessary that the Scripture should be fulfilled--the prediction, I mean, which the Holy Spirit uttered by the lips of David, about Judas, who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷ For Judas was reckoned as one of our number, and a share in this ministry was allotted to him." ¹⁸ (Now having bought a piece of ground with the money paid for his wickedness he fell there with his face downwards, and, his body bursting open, he became disembowelled. ¹⁹ This fact became widely known to the people of Jerusalem, so that the place received the name, in their language, of Achel-damach, which means 'The Field of Blood.') ²⁰ "For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "'LET HIS ENCAMPMENT BE DESOLATE: LET THERE BE NO ONE TO DWELL THERE'; and "'HIS WORK LET ANOTHER TAKE UP.' ²¹ "It is necessary, therefore, that of the men who have been with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us-- ²² beginning from His baptism by John down to the day on which He was taken up again from us into Heaven--one should be appointed to become a witness with us as to His resurrection." ²³ So two names were proposed, Joseph called Bar-sabbas--and surnamed Justus--and Matthias. ²⁴ And the brethren prayed, saying, "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all, show clearly which of these two Thou hast chosen ²⁵ to occupy the place in this ministry and Apostleship from which Judas through transgression fell, in order to go to his own place." ²⁶ Then they drew lots between them. The lot fell on Matthias, and a place among the eleven Apostles was voted to him.

²⁴ But God has raised Him to life, having terminated the throes of death, for in fact it was not possible for Him to be held fast by death. ²⁵ For David says in reference to Him, "'I CONSTANTLY FIXED MY EYES UPON THE LORD, BECAUSE HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND IN ORDER THAT I MAY CONTINUE UNSHAKEN. ²⁶ FOR THIS REASON MY HEART IS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTS. MY BODY ALSO SHALL REST IN HOPE. ²⁷ FOR THOU WILT NOT LEAVE ME IN THE UNSEEN WORLD FORSAKEN, NOR GIVE UP THY HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. ²⁸ THOU HAST MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE: THOU WILT FILL ME WITH GLADNESS IN THY PRESENCE.' ²⁹ "As to the patriarch David, I need hardly remind you, brethren, that he died and was buried, and that we still have his tomb among us. ³⁰ Being a Prophet, however, and knowing that God had solemnly sworn to him to seat a descendant of his upon his throne, ³¹ with prophetic foresight he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, to the effect that He was not left forsaken in the Unseen World, nor did His body undergo decay. ³² This Jesus, God has raised to life-- a fact to which all of us testify.

¹⁵ The Prince of Life you put to death; but God has raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses as to that.

⁶ "But rise and go to the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

¹⁵ "Go," replied the Lord; "he is a chosen instrument of Mine to carry My name to the Gentiles and to kings and to the descendants of Israel. ¹⁶ For I will let him know the great sufferings which he must pass through for My sake."

² While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me, now at once, Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them." ³ So, after fasting and prayer and the laying on of hands, they let them go. ⁴ They therefore, being thus sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleuceia, and from there sailed to Cyprus.

¹⁰ And I asked, "'What am I to do, Lord?' "And the Lord said to me, "'Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'

¹⁴ Then he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the righteous One and hear Him speak. ¹⁵ For you shall be a witness for Him, to all men, of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why delay? Rise, get yourself baptized, and wash off your sins, calling upon His name.' ¹⁷ "After my return to Jerusalem, and while praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance. ¹⁸ I saw Jesus, and He said to me, "'Make haste and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.' ¹⁹ "'Lord,' I replied, 'they themselves well know how active I was in imprisoning, and in flogging in synagogue after synagogue those who believe in Thee; ²⁰ and when they were shedding the blood of Stephen, Thy witness, I was standing by, fully approving of it, and I held the clothes of those who were killing him.' ²¹ "'Go,' He replied; 'I will send you as an Apostle to nations far away.'"

¹⁶ 'But rise, and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you My servant and My witness both as to the things you have already seen and as to those in which I will appear to you. ¹⁷ I will save you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you to open their eyes, ¹⁸ that they may turn from darkness to light and from the obedience to Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified through faith in Me.'

¹ Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart to proclaim God's Good News,

⁴ but as regards the holiness of His Spirit was decisively proved by His Resurrection to be the Son of God--I mean concerning Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and Apostleship in His service in order to win men to obedience to the faith, among all Gentile peoples,

²⁴ it was for our sakes too. Faith, before long, will be placed to the credit of us also who are believers in Him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, ²⁵ who was surrendered to death because of the offences we had committed, and was raised to life because of the acquittal secured for us.

⁹ that if with your mouth you confess Jesus as Lord and in your heart believe that God brought Him back to life, you shall be saved.

⁹ For this was the purpose of Christ's dying and coming to life--namely that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living.

¹ Paul, called to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God--and our brother Sosthenes:

¹ Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God--and our brother Timothy: To the Church of God in Corinth, with all God's people throughout Greece.

¹ Do you say that this is self-recommendation once more? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? ² Our letter of recommendation is yourselves--a letter written on our hearts and everywhere known and read. ³ For all can see that you are a letter of Christ entrusted to our care, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the ever-living God--and not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts as tablets.

¹¹ For I must tell you, brethren, that the Good News which was proclaimed by me is not such as man approves of. ¹² For, in fact, it was not from man that I received or learnt it, but by a revelation from Jesus Christ.

¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were my seniors in the Apostleship, but I went away into Arabia, and afterwards came back to Damascus.

¹⁹ and what the transcendent greatness of His power in us believers as seen in the working of His infinite might ²⁰ when He displayed it in Christ by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His own right hand in the heavenly realms,

⁸ To me who am less than the least of all God's people has this work been graciously entrusted--to proclaim to the Gentiles the Good News of the exhaustless wealth of Christ,

¹¹ and is not in accordance with the Good News of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. ¹² I am thankful to Him who made me strong--even Christ Jesus our Lord--because He has judged me to be faithful and has put me into His service, ¹³ though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and had been insolent in outrage. Yet mercy was shown me, because I had acted ignorantly, not having as yet believed; ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord came to me in overflowing fulness, conferring faith on me and the love which is in Christ Jesus.

¹ Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, for proclaiming the promise of the Life which is in Christ Jesus:

³ And at the appointed time He clearly made known His Message in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Saviour:

²⁰ Now may God who gives peace, and brought Jesus, our Lord, up again from among the dead--even Him who, by virtue of the blood of the eternal Covenant, is the great Shepherd of the sheep--

²¹ are faithful to God, who raised Him from among the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are resting upon God.

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the truthful witness, the first of the dead to be born to Life, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins with His own blood,

¹⁸ I died; but I am now alive until the Ages of the Ages, and I have the keys of the gates of Death and of Hades!

⁸ "To the minister of the Church at Smyrna write as follows: "'This is what the First and the Last says--He who died and has returned to life.

³¹ The Church, however, throughout the whole of Judaea, Galilee and Samaria, had peace and was spiritually built up; and grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and receiving encouragement from the Holy Spirit.

⁴¹ and he passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the Churches.

⁵ So the Churches went on gaining a stronger faith and growing in numbers from day to day. ⁶ Then Paul and his companions passed through Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Message in the province of Asia.

²³ After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out on a tour, visiting the whole of Galatia and Phrygia in order, and strengthening all the disciples.

¹ As to the collection for God's people, what I have directed the Churches of Galatia to do, you must do also.

²² But you know Timothy's approved worth--how, like a child working with his father, he has served with me in furtherance of the Good News.

²¹ My Christian greetings to every one of God's people. The brethren who are with me send their greetings.

⁷ To all God's loved ones who are in Rome, called to be saints. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for what He has done for all of you; for the report of your faith is spreading through the whole world. ⁹ I call God to witness--to whom I render priestly and spiritual service by telling the Good News about His Son-- how unceasingly I make mention of you in His presence, ¹⁰ always in my prayers entreating that now, at length, if such be His will, the way may by some means be made clear for me to come to you. ¹¹ For I am longing to see you, in order to convey to you some spiritual help, so that you may be strengthened; ¹² in other words that while I am among you we may be mutually encouraged by one another's faith, yours and mine. ¹³ And I desire you to know, brethren, that I have many a time intended to come to you--though until now I have been disappointed--in order that among you also I might gather some fruit from my labours, as I have already done among the rest of the Gentile nations. ¹⁴ I am already under obligations alike to Greek-speaking races and to others, to cultured and to uncultured people: ¹⁵ so that for my part I am willing and eager to proclaim the Good News to you also who are in Rome.

³ May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

² May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² To the people of God and the believing brethren at Colossae who are in Christ. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father.

¹ Paul, Silas, and Timothy: To the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be granted to you. ² May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁹ "In this manner therefore pray: 'Our Father who art in Heaven, may Thy name be kept holy;

²⁸ just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as the redemption-price for many."

²⁸ for this is my blood which is to be poured out for many for the remission of sins--the blood which ratifies the Covenant.

⁴² Again a second time He went away and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is impossible for this cup to pass without my drinking it, Thy will be done."

⁴⁵ For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon, but to wait on others, and to give His life as the redemption-price for a multitude of people."

¹⁹ Then, taking a Passover biscuit, He gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is being given on your behalf: this do in remembrance of me."

⁴² "Father, if it be Thy will, take this cup away from me; yet not my will but Thine be done!"

³⁰ "I can of my own self do nothing. As I am bidden, so I judge; and mine is a just judgement, because it is not my own will that guides me, but the will of Him who sent me.

³⁸ For I have left Heaven and have come down to earth not to seek my own pleasure, but to do the will of Him who sent me.

¹¹ "I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his very life for the sheep.

¹⁷ For this reason my Father loves me, because I am laying down my life in order to receive it back again. ¹⁸ No one is taking it away from me, but I myself am laying it down. I am authorized to lay it down, and I am authorized to receive it back again. This is the command I received from my Father."

³¹ Now is a judgement of this world: now will the Prince of this world be driven out.

³⁰ In future I shall not talk much with you, for the Prince of this world is coming. And yet in me he has nothing; ³¹ but it is in order that the world may know that I love the Father, and that it is in obedience to the command which the Father gave me that I thus act. Rise, let us be going."

¹⁸ If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you.

¹⁴ I have given them Thy Message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that Thou wilt remove them out of the world, but that Thou wilt protect them from the Evil one.

⁷ To all God's loved ones who are in Rome, called to be saints. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁵ who was surrendered to death because of the offences we had committed, and was raised to life because of the acquittal secured for us.

³ For what was impossible to the Law--powerless as it was because it acted through frail humanity--God effected. Sending His own Son in a body like that of sinful human nature and as a sacrifice for sin, He pronounced sentence upon sin in human nature;

²⁷ and the Searcher of hearts knows what the Spirit's meaning is, because His intercessions for God's people are in harmony with God's will.

³² He who did not withhold even His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

² And do not follow the customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is--that will which is good and beautiful and perfect.

⁴ in whom the god of this present age has blinded their unbelieving minds so as to shut out the sunshine of the Good News of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God.

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me; and the life which I now live in the body I live through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up to death on my behalf.

¹⁴ But as for me, God forbid that I should glory in anything except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which the world is crucified to me, and I am crucified to the world.

² May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has crowned us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ;

¹¹ In Him we Jews have been made heirs, having been chosen beforehand in accordance with the intention of Him whose might carries out in everything the design of His own will,

² which were once habitual to you while you walked in the ways of this world and obeyed the Prince of the powers of the air, the spirits that are now at work in the hearts of the sons of disobedience--to you God has given Life.

² And live and act lovingly, as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up to death on our behalf as an offering and sacrifice to God, yielding a fragrant odor.

¹² For ours is not a conflict with mere flesh and blood, but with the despotisms, the empires, the forces that control and govern this dark world--the spiritual hosts of evil arrayed against us in the heavenly warfare.

²⁰ And to our God and Father be the glory throughout the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

¹¹ But may our God and Father Himself--and our Lord Jesus--guide us on our way to you;

¹³ Thus He will build up your characters, so that you will be faultlessly holy in the presence of our God and Father at the Coming of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones.

¹⁶ And may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself--and God our Father who has loved us and has given us in His grace eternal consolation and a bright hope--

⁶ who gave Himself as the redemption price for all--a fact testified to at its own appointed time,

¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to purchase our freedom from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a people who should be specially His own, zealous for doing good works.

⁵ It is not to angels that God has assigned the sovereignty of that coming world, of which we speak.

⁵ and have realized how good the word of God is and how mighty are the powers of the coming Age, and then fell away--

¹⁴ how much more certainly shall the blood of Christ, who strengthened by the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God, free from blemish, purify your consciences from lifeless works for you to serve the ever-living God?

⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ That is why, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING THOU HAS NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY THOU HAST PREPARED FOR ME. ⁶ IN WHOLE BURNT-OFFERINGS AND IN SIN-OFFERINGS THOU HAST TAKEN NO PLEASURE. ⁷ THEN I SAID, 'I HAVE COME--IN THE ROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN CONCERNING ME--TO DO THY WILL, O GOD.'" ⁸ After saying the words I have just quoted, "SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS OR WHOLE BURNT-OFFERINGS AND SIN-OFFERINGS THOU HAST NOT DESIRED OR TAKEN PLEASURE IN" --all such being offered in obedience to the Law-- ⁹ He then adds, "I HAVE COME TO DO THY WILL." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ It is through that divine will that we have been set free from sin, through the offering of Jesus Christ as our sacrifice once for all.

⁴ You unfaithful women, do you not know that friendship with the world means enmity to God? Therefore whoever is bent on being friendly with the world makes himself an enemy to God.

²⁴ The burden of our sins He Himself carried in His own body to the Cross and bore it there, so that we, having died so far as our sins are concerned, may live righteous lives. By His wounds yours have been healed.

¹⁸ because Christ also once for all died for sins, the innocent One for the guilty many, in order to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

² and He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

¹⁵ Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the Father. ¹⁶ For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world. ¹⁷ And the world, with its cravings, is passing away, but he who does God's will continues for ever.

¹⁶ We know what love is--through Christ's having laid down His life on our behalf; and in the same way we ought to lay down our lives for our brother men.

⁴ For every child of God overcomes the world; and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith. ⁵ Who but the man that believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world?

¹⁹ We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the Evil one. ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we know the true One, and are in union with the true One--that is, we are in union with His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the Life of the Ages.

⁹ And now they sing a new song. "It is fitting," they say, "that Thou shouldst be the One to take the book And break its seals; Because Thou hast been offered in sacrifice, And hast purchased for God with Thine own blood Some out of every tribe and language and people and nation,

⁹ After this I looked, and a vast host appeared which it was impossible for anyone to count, gathered out of every nation and from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in long white robes, and carrying palm-branches in their hands.

¹³ and bring us not into temptation, but rescue us from the Evil one.'

²⁰ and teach them to obey every command which I have given you. And remember, I am with you always, day by day, until the Close of the Age."

¹⁴ "Glory be to God in the highest Heavens, And on earth peace among men who please Him!"

³⁶ For the universe owes its origin to Him, was created by Him, and has its aim and purpose in Him. To Him be the glory throughout the Ages! Amen.

²⁷ to God, the only wise, through Jesus Christ, even to Him be the glory through all the Ages! Amen.

¹² so that we should be devoted to the extolling of His glorious attributes--we who were the first to fix our hopes on Christ.

¹⁷ Now to the immortal and invisible King of the Ages, who alone is God, be honour and glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

¹⁸ The Lord will deliver me from every cruel attack and will keep me safe in preparation for His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be the glory until the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

²¹ fully equip you with every grace that you may need for the doing of His will, producing in us that which will truly please Him through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

¹¹ To Him be all power unto the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

¹⁸ But be always growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory, both now and to the day of Eternity!

²⁵ to the only God our Saviour--through Jesus Christ our Lord, be ascribed glory, majesty, might, and authority, as it was before all time, is now, and shall be to all the Ages! Amen.

⁹ And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, and lives until the Ages of the Ages, ¹⁰ the twenty-four Elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives until the Ages of the Ages, and they cast their wreaths down in front of the throne, ¹¹ saying, "It is fitting, O our Lord and God, That we should ascribe unto Thee the glory and the honor and the power; For Thou didst create all things, And because it was Thy will they came into existence, and were created."

¹² and in loud voices they were singing, "It is fitting that the Lamb which has been offered in sacrifice should receive all power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."

¹² "Even so!" they cried: "The blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanks and the honor and the power and the might are to be ascribed to our God, until the Ages of the Ages! Even so!"

⁷ He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give Him glory, because the time of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made sky and earth, the sea and the water-springs."

⁶ He wondered at their unbelief. So He went round the adjacent villages, teaching.

³⁰ "Why, this is marvellous!" the man replied; "you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes!

¹¹ On the contrary, we believe that it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we, as well as they, shall be saved."

² through whom also, as the result of faith, we have obtained an introduction into that state of favour with God in which we stand, and we exult in hope of some day sharing in God's glory.

³ Ignorant of the righteousness which God provides and building their hopes upon a righteousness of their own, they have refused submission to God's righteousness.

¹⁵ For even if you were to have ten thousand spiritual instructors--for all that you could not have several fathers. It is I who in Christ Jesus became your father through the Good News.

⁴ If indeed some visitor is proclaiming among you another Jesus whom we did not proclaim, or if you are receiving a Spirit different from the One you have already received or a Good News different from that which you have already welcomed, your toleration is admirable!

¹ You foolish Galatians! Whose sophistry has bewitched you--you to whom Jesus Christ has been vividly portrayed as on the Cross? ² Answer me this one question, "Is it on the ground of your obedience to the Law that you received the Spirit, or is it because, when you heard, you believed?" ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now going to reach perfection through what is external? ⁴ Have you endured such sufferings to no purpose--if indeed it has been to no purpose? ⁵ He who gives you His Spirit and works miracles among you--does He do so on the ground of your obedience to the Law, or is it the result of your having heard and believed:

⁹ Now, however, having come to know God--or rather to be known by Him--how is it you are again turning back to weak and worthless rudimentary notions to which you are once more willing to be enslaved? ¹⁰ You scrupulously observe days and months, special seasons, and years. ¹¹ I am alarmed about you, and am afraid that I have perhaps bestowed labour upon you to no purpose. ¹² Brethren, become as I am, I beseech you; for I have also become like you. In no respect did you behave badly to me. ¹³ And you know that in those early days it was on account of bodily infirmity that I proclaimed the Good News to you, ¹⁴ and yet the bodily infirmity which was such a trial to you, you did not regard with contempt or loathing, but you received me as if I had been an angel of God or Christ Jesus Himself! ¹⁵ I ask you, then, what has become of your self-congratulations? For I bear you witness that had it been possible you would have torn out your own eyes and have given them to me.

⁴ Christ has become nothing to any of you who are seeking acceptance with God through the Law: you have fallen away from grace.

⁷ You were running the race nobly! Who has interfered and caused you to swerve from the truth? ⁸ No such teaching ever proceeded from Him who is calling you.

¹⁴ To this blessing God has called you by our Good News, so that you may have a share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

³ When I was on my journey to Macedonia I begged you to remain on in Ephesus that you might remonstrate with certain persons because of their erroneous teaching

¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord came to me in overflowing fulness, conferring faith on me and the love which is in Christ Jesus.

⁹ For He saved us and called us with a holy call, not in accordance with our desserts, but in accordance with His own purpose and the free grace which He bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before the commencement of the Ages,

¹ You then, my child, must be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ but--in imitation of the holy One who has called you--you also must be holy in all your habits of life.

³ seeing that His divine power has given us all things that are needful for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him who has appealed to us by His own glorious perfections.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.

²⁴ For there will rise up false Christs and false prophets, displaying wonderful signs and prodigies, so as to deceive, were it possible, even God's own People.

¹⁰ said, "You who are full of every kind of craftiness and unscrupulous cunning--you son of the Devil and foe to all that is right--will you never cease to misrepresent the straight paths of the Lord?

¹ But certain persons who had come down from Judaea tried to convince the brethren, saying, "Unless you are circumcised in accordance with the Mosaic custom, you cannot be saved." ² Between these new comers and Paul and Barnabas there was no little disagreement and controversy, until at last it was decided that Paul and Barnabas and some other brethren should go up to consult the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem on this matter. ³ So they set out, being accompanied for a short distance by some other members of the Church; and as they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told the whole story of the conversion of the Gentiles and inspired all the brethren with great joy. ⁴ Upon their arrival in Jerusalem they were cordially received by the Church, the Apostles, and the Elders; and they reported in detail all that God, working with them, had done. ⁵ But certain men who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees but were now believers, stood up in the assembly, and said, "Yes, Gentile believers ought to be circumcised and be ordered to keep the Law of Moses."

²⁴ As we have been informed that certain persons who have gone out from among us have disturbed you by their teaching and have unsettled your minds, without having received any such instructions from us;

³⁰ and that from among your own selves men will rise up who will seek with their perverse talk to draw away the disciples after them.

¹⁷ But I beseech you, brethren, to keep a watch on those who are causing the divisions among you, and are leading others into sin, in defiance of the instruction which you have received; and habitually to shun them. ¹⁸ For men of that stamp are not bondservants of Christ our Lord, but are slaves to their own appetites; and by their plausible words and their flattery they utterly deceive the minds of the simple.

¹⁷ We are; for, unlike most teachers, we are not fraudulent hucksters of God's Message; but with transparent motives, as commissioned by God, in God's presence and in communion with Christ, so we speak.

² Nay, we have renounced the secrecy which marks a feeling of shame. We practice no cunning tricks, nor do we adulterate God's Message. But by a full clear statement of the truth we strive to commend ourselves in the presence of God to every human conscience.

¹³ For men of this stamp are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, assuming the garb of Apostles of Christ.

⁴ Yet there was danger of this through the false brethren secretly introduced into the Church, who had stolen in to spy out the freedom which is ours in Christ Jesus, in order to rob us of it.

¹⁷ These men pay court to you, but not with honourable motives. They want to exclude you, so that you may pay court to them.

¹⁰ For my part I have strong confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt my view of the matter. But the man--be he who he may--who is troubling you, will have to bear the full weight of the judgement to be pronounced on him.

¹² Would to God that those who are unsettling your faith would even mutilate themselves.

¹² All who desire to display their zeal for external observances try to compel you to receive circumcision, but their real object is simply to escape being persecuted for the Cross of Christ. ¹³ For these very men do not really keep the Law of Moses, but they would have you receive circumcision in order that they may glory in *your* bodies.

¹⁷ From this time onward let no one trouble me; for, as for me, I bear, branded on my body, the scars of Jesus as my Master.

¹ Now the Spirit expressly declares that in later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons; ² through the hypocrisy of men who teach falsely and have their own consciences seared as with a hot iron; ³ forbidding people to marry, and insisting on abstinence from foods which God has created to be partaken of, with thankfulness, by those who believe and have a clear knowledge of the truth.

¹⁸ In the matter of the truth they have gone astray, saying that the Resurrection is already past, and so they are overthrowing the faith of some.

⁸ And just as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also these false teachers withstand the truth--being, as they are, men of debased intellects, and of no real worth so far as faith is concerned. ⁹ But they will have no further success; for their folly will be as clearly manifest to all men, as that of the opponents of Moses came to be.

³ For a time is coming when they will not tolerate wholesome instruction, but, wanting to have their ears tickled, they will find a multitude of teachers to satisfy their own fancies; ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and will turn aside to fables.

¹⁰ For there are many that spurn authority--idle, talkative and deceitful persons, who, for the most part, are adherents of the Circumcision. ¹¹ You must stop the mouths of such men, for they overthrow the faith of whole families, teaching what they ought not, just for the sake of making money.

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be teachers of falsehood among you also, who will cunningly introduce fatal divisions, disowning even the Sovereign Lord who has redeemed them, and bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² And in their immoral ways they will have many eager disciples, through whom religion will be brought into disrepute. ³ Thirsting for riches, they will trade on you with their canting talk. From of old their judgement has been working itself out, and their destruction has not been slumbering.

¹⁸ Dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-Christ, so even now many anti-Christs have appeared. By this we may know that the last hour has come. ¹⁹ They have gone forth from our midst, but they did not really belong to us; for had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they left us that it might be manifest that professed believers do not all belong to us.

²⁶ I have thus written to you concerning those who are leading you astray.

¹ Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but put the spirits to the test to see whether they are from God; for many false teachers have gone out into the world.

⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world--men who do not acknowledge Jesus as Christ who has come in human nature. Such a one is 'the deceiver' and 'the anti-Christ.'

¹⁰ If any one who comes to you does not bring this teaching, do not receive him under your roof nor bid him Farewell.

⁴ For certain persons have crept in unnoticed--men spoken of in ancient writings as pre-destined to this condemnation--ungodly men, who pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord.

² I know your doings and your toil and patient suffering. And I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, but have put to the test those who say that they themselves are Apostles but are not, and you have found them to be liars.

⁶ Yet this you have in your favor: you hate the doings of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

¹⁴ Yet I have a few things against you, because you have with you some that cling to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block in the way of the descendants of Israel--to eat what had been sacrificed to idols, and commit fornication. ¹⁵ So even you have some that cling in the same way to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

²⁰ Yet I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and by her teaching leads astray My servants, so that they commit fornication and eat what has been sacrificed to idols.

⁹ The great Dragon, the ancient serpent, he who is called 'the Devil' and 'the Adversary' and leads the whole earth astray, was hurled down: he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.

¹⁴ And his power of leading astray the inhabitants of the earth is due to the marvels which he has been permitted to work in the presence of the Wild Beast. And he told the inhabitants of the earth to erect a statue to the Wild Beast who had received the sword-stroke and yet had recovered.

²⁰ who had done the miracles in his presence with which he had led astray those who had received the mark of the Wild Beast, and those who worshipped his statue. Both of them were thrown alive into the Lake of fire that was all ablaze with sulphur.

³ He closed the entrance and put a seal upon him in order that he might be unable to lead the nations astray any more until the thousand years were at an end. Afterwards he is to be set at liberty for a short time.

⁴¹ "Then will He say to those at His left, "'Begone from me, with the curse resting upon you, into the Fire of the Ages, which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels.

⁷¹ But he broke out into curses and oaths, declaring, "I know nothing of the man you are talking about."

¹⁴ They went to the High Priests and Elders and said to them, "We have bound ourselves under a heavy curse to take no food till we have killed Paul.

³ For I could pray to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brethren, my human kinsfolk--for such the Israelites are.

³ For this reason I would have you understand that no one speaking under the influence of The Spirit of God ever says, "Jesus is accursed," and that no one is able to say, "Jesus is Lord," except under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

²² If any one is destitute of love to the Lord, let him be accursed. OUR LORD IS COMING.

¹³ For men of this stamp are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, assuming the garb of Apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder. Satan, their master, can disguise himself as an angel of light.

⁹ What I have just said I repeat--if any one is preaching to you a Good News other than that which you originally received, let him be accursed.

¹⁰ All who are depending upon their own obedience to the Law are under a curse, for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERY ONE WHO DOES NOT REMAIN FAITHFUL TO ALL THE PRECEPTS OF THE LAW, AND PRACTISE THEM."

¹³ Christ has purchased our freedom from the curse of the Law by becoming accursed for us--because "CURSED IS EVERY ONE WHO IS HANGED UPON A TREE."

¹⁹ holding fast to faith and a clear conscience, which some have cast aside and have made shipwreck of their faith. ²⁰ Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

¹⁰ After a first and second admonition, have nothing further to do with any one who will not be taught;

¹⁴ Their very eyes are full of adultery--being eyes which never cease from sin. These men set traps to catch unstedfast souls, their own hearts being well trained in greed. They are fore-doomed to God's curse!

¹⁸ "I solemnly declare to every one who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this book, that if any one adds to those words, God will add to him the plagues spoken of in this book; ¹⁹ and that if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take from him his share in the Tree of Life and in the holy city--the things described in this book.

¹⁷ But I beseech you, brethren, to keep a watch on those who are causing the divisions among you, and are leading others into sin, in defiance of the instruction which you have received; and habitually to shun them.

¹⁷ Did I display any vacillation or caprice in this? Or the purposes which I form--do I form them on worldly principles, now crying "Yes, yes," and now "No, no"?

¹ This intended visit of mine is my third visit to you. "ON THE EVIDENCE OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY CHARGE SHALL BE SUSTAINED." ² Those who cling to their old sins, and indeed all of you, I have forewarned and still forewarn (as I did on my second visit when present, so I do now, though absent) that, when I come again, I shall not spare you;

¹ In conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord. For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me, while so far as you are concerned it is a safe precaution.

⁴ Always be glad in the Lord: I will repeat it, be glad.

¹⁶ So they sent to Him their disciples together with the Herodians; who said, "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you faithfully teach God's truth; and that no fear of man misleads you, for you are not biased by men's wealth or rank.

¹⁴ "And if this," they added, "is reported to the Governor, we will satisfy him and screen you from punishment."

¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, "Judge whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you instead of listening to God. ²⁰ As for us, what we have seen and heard we cannot help speaking about."

²⁹ Peter and the other Apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than man.

²⁰ Now the people of Tyre and Sidon had incurred Herod's violent displeasure. So they sent a large deputation to wait on him; and having secured the good will of Blastus, his treasurer, they begged the king to be friendly with them again, because their country was dependent on his for its food supply.

⁸ while on the other hand upon the self-willed who disobey the truth and obey unrighteousness will fall anger and fury, affliction and awful distress,

²⁹ But the true Jew is one inwardly, and true circumcision is heart-circumcision--not literal, but spiritual; and such people receive praise not from men, but from God.

¹ As for us who are strong, our duty is to bear with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not seek our own pleasure. ² Let each of us endeavour to please his fellow Christian, aiming at a blessing calculated to build him up.

³³ That is the way that I also seek in everything the approval of all men, not aiming at my own profit, but at that of the many, in the hope that they may be saved.

⁹ And for this reason also we make it our ambition, whether at home or in exile, to please Him perfectly. ¹⁰ For we must all of us appear before Christ's judgement-seat in our true characters, in order that each may then receive an award for his actions in this life, in accordance with what he has done, whether it be good or whether it be worthless. ¹¹ Therefore, because we realize how greatly the Lord is to be feared, we are endeavouring to win men over, and God recognizes what our motives are, and I hope that you, in your hearts, recognize them too.

¹⁹ You are imagining, all this time, that we are making our defense at your bar. In reality it is as in God's presence and in communion with Christ that we speak; but, dear friends, it is all with a view to your progress in goodness.

⁶ Let it not be in acts of eye-service as if you had but to please men, but as Christ's bondservants who are doing God's will from the heart.

²² Slaves, be obedient in everything to your earthly masters; not in acts of eye service, as aiming only to please men, but with simplicity of purpose, because you fear the Lord.

⁴ But as God tested and approved us before entrusting us with His Good News, so in what we say we are seeking not to please men but to please God, who tests and approves our motives.

⁹ No one who is a child of God is habitually guilty of sin. A God-given germ of life remains in him, and he cannot habitually sin--because he is a child of God.

¹⁶ on the day when God will judge the secrets of men's lives by Jesus Christ, as declared in the Good News as I have taught it.

⁹ But--to use the words of Scripture--we speak of THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN NOR EAR HEARD, and which have never entered the heart of man: ALL THAT GOD HAS IN READINESS FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM. ¹⁰ For us, however, God has drawn aside the veil through the teaching of the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, including the depths of the divine nature.

²³ For it was from the Lord that I received the facts which, in turn, I handed on to you; how that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was to be betrayed, took some bread,

¹ But let me recall to you, brethren, the Good News which I brought you, which you accepted, and on which you are standing, ² through which also you are obtaining salvation, if you bear in mind the words in which I proclaimed it--unless indeed your faith has been unreal from the very first. ³ For I repeated to you the all-important fact which also I had been taught, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;

¹ Paul, an Apostle sent not from men nor by any man, but by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from among the dead--

³ and that by a revelation the truth hitherto kept secret was made known to me as I have already briefly explained it to you. ⁴ By means of that explanation, as you read it, you can judge of my insight into the truth of Christ ⁵ which in earlier ages was not made known to the human race, as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles and Prophets through the Spirit-- ⁶ I mean the truth that the Gentiles are joint heirs with us Jews, and that they form one body with us, and have the same interest as we have in the promise which has been made good in Christ Jesus through the Good News, ⁷ in which I have been appointed to serve, in virtue of the work which God, in the exercise of His power within me, has graciously entrusted to me. ⁸ To me who am less than the least of all God's people has this work been graciously entrusted--to proclaim to the Gentiles the Good News of the exhaustless wealth of Christ,

¹⁰ For us, however, God has drawn aside the veil through the teaching of the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, including the depths of the divine nature.

¹ I am compelled to boast. It is not a profitable employment, but I will proceed to visions and revelations granted me by the Lord.

¹⁶ saw fit to reveal His Son within me in order that I might tell among the Gentiles the Good News concerning Him, at once I did not confer with any human being,

¹ And Saul fully approved of his murder. At this time a great persecution broke out against the Church in Jerusalem, and all except the Apostles were scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria.

³ But Saul cruelly harassed the Church. He went into house after house, and, dragging off both men and women, threw them into prison.

¹ Now Saul, whose every breath was a threat of destruction for the disciples of the Lord, ² went to the High Priest and begged from him letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, in order that if he found any believers there, either men or women, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.

¹³ "Lord," answered Ananias, "I have heard about that man from many, and I have heard of the great mischief he has done to Thy people in Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he is authorized by the High Priests to arrest all who call upon Thy name."

²¹ and his hearers were all amazed, and began to ask one another, "Is not this the man who in Jerusalem tried to exterminate those who called upon that Name, and came here on purpose to carry them off in chains to the High Priests?"

²⁶ So he came to Jerusalem and made several attempts to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, being in doubt as to whether he himself was a disciple.

³ "I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God. ⁴ I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison; ⁵ as the High Priest also and all the Elders can bear me witness. It was, too, from them that I received letters to the brethren in Damascus, and I was already on my way to Damascus, intending to bring those also who had fled there, in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished.

⁴ "The kind of life I have lived from my youth upwards, as exemplified in my early days among my nation and in Jerusalem, is known to all the Jews. ⁵ For they all know me of old--if they would but testify to the fact--how, being an adherent of the strictest sect of our religion, my life was that of a Pharisee.

⁹ "I myself, however, thought it a duty to do many things in hostility to the name of Jesus, the Nazarene. ¹⁰ And that was how I acted in Jerusalem. Armed with authority received from the High Priests I shut up many of God's people in various prisons, and when they were about to be put to death I gave my vote against them. ¹¹ In all the synagogues also I punished them many a time, and tried to make them blaspheme; and in my wild fury I chased them even to foreign towns.

⁹ For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not fit to be called an Apostle--because I persecuted the Church of God.

⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church; as to the righteousness which comes through Law, blameless.

¹³ though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and had been insolent in outrage. Yet mercy was shown me, because I had acted ignorantly, not having as yet believed;

² "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the Elders by not washing their hands before meals?" ³ "Why do you, too," He retorted, "transgress God's commands for the sake of your tradition?

⁶ he shall be absolved from honouring his father'; and so you have abrogated God's Word for the sake of your tradition.

³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are, zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without first carefully washing their hands, ⁴ and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and Scribes put the question to Him: "Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the Elders, and eat their food with unclean hands?" ⁶ "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," He replied; "as it is written, "'THIS PEOPLE HONOUR ME WITH THEIR LIPS, WHILE THEIR HEARTS ARE FAR AWAY FROM ME: ⁷ BUT IDLE IS THEIR DEVOTION WHILE THEY LAY DOWN PRECEPTS WHICH ARE MERE HUMAN RULES.' ⁸ "You neglect God's Commandment: you hold fast to men's traditions." ⁹ "Praiseworthy indeed!" He added, "to set at nought God's Commandment in order to observe your own traditions! ¹⁰ For Moses said, 'HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER' and again, 'HE WHO CURSES FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM DIE THE DEATH.' ¹¹ But *you* say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, It is a Korban (that is, a thing devoted to God), whatever it is, which otherwise you would have received from me--' ¹² And so you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or mother, ¹³ thus nullifying God's precept by your tradition which you have handed down. And many things of that kind you do."

³ "I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God.

⁵ For they all know me of old--if they would but testify to the fact--how, being an adherent of the strictest sect of our religion, my life was that of a Pharisee.

⁹ "I myself, however, thought it a duty to do many things in hostility to the name of Jesus, the Nazarene.

⁴ although I myself might have some excuse for confidence in outward ceremonies. If any one else claims a right to trust in them, far more may I: ⁵ circumcised, as I was, on the eighth day, a member of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew sprung from Hebrews; as to the Law a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church; as to the righteousness which comes through Law, blameless.

⁸ Take care lest there be some one who leads you away as prisoners by means of his philosophy and idle fancies, following human traditions and the world's crude notions instead of following Christ.

⁸ Him you love, though your eyes have never looked on Him. In Him, though at present you cannot see Him, you nevertheless trust, and triumph with a joy which is unspeakable and is crowned with glory,

²⁶ Yes, Father, for such has been Thy gracious will.

¹⁵ For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; no wine or fermented drink shall he ever drink; but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth. ¹⁶ Many of the descendants of Israel will he turn to the Lord their God;

²¹ On that same occasion Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit with rapturous joy. "I give Thee fervent thanks," He exclaimed, "O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from sages and men of understanding, and hast revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such has been Thy gracious will.

¹⁵ "Go," replied the Lord; "he is a chosen instrument of Mine to carry My name to the Gentiles and to kings and to the descendants of Israel.

² While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me, now at once, Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them."

¹⁴ Then he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the righteous One and hear Him speak. ¹⁵ For you shall be a witness for Him, to all men, of what you have seen and heard.

⁵ through whom we have received grace and Apostleship in His service in order to win men to obedience to the faith, among all Gentile peoples,

³⁰ and those whom He has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also declared free from guilt; and those whom He has declared free from guilt He has also crowned with glory.

²⁴ even towards us whom He has called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles?

⁹ God is ever true to His promises, and it was by Him that you were, one and all, called into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

²⁴ but to those who have received the Call, whether Jews or Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

¹⁰ But what I am I am by the grace of God, and His grace bestowed upon me did not prove ineffectual. But I labored more strenuously than all the rest--yet it was not I, but God's grace working with me.

⁶ I marvel that you are so readily leaving Him who called you by the grace of Christ, and are adhering to a different Good News.

⁵ For He pre-destined us to be adopted by Himself as sons through Jesus Christ--such being His gracious will and pleasure--

⁹ when He made known to us the secret of His will. And this is in harmony with God's merciful purpose

¹¹ Such was the eternal purpose which He had formed in Christ Jesus our Lord,

¹³ And from us thanks are always due to God on your behalf--brethren whom the Lord loves--because God from the beginning has chosen you for salvation through the Spirit's sanctifying influence and your belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this blessing God has called you by our Good News, so that you may have a share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ And God, the giver of all grace, who has called you to share His eternal glory, through Christ, after you have suffered for a short time, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong.

¹⁷ "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jonah," said Jesus; "for mere human nature has not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven.

⁴¹ Keep awake, and pray that you may not enter into temptation: the spirit is right willing, but the body is frail."

²³ And He said to all, "If any one is desirous of following me, let him ignore self and take up his cross day by day, and so be my follower. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it. ²⁵ Why, what benefit is it to a man to have gained the whole world, but to have lost or forfeited his own self.

⁵⁹ "Follow me," He said to another. "Master," the man replied, "allow me first to go and bury my father." ⁶⁰ "Leave the dead," Jesus rejoined, "to bury their own dead; but you must go and announce far and wide the coming of the Kingdom of God." ⁶¹ "Master," said yet another, "I will follow you; but allow me first to go and say good-bye to my friends at home." ⁶² Jesus answered him, "No one who has put his hand to the plough, and then looks behind him, is fit for the Kingdom of God.

²¹ "'Go,' He replied; 'I will send you as an Apostle to nations far away.'"

¹⁷ I will save you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you to open their eyes, ¹⁸ that they may turn from darkness to light and from the obedience to Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified through faith in Me.' ¹⁹ "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; ²⁰ but I proceeded to preach first to the people in Damascus, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and to the Gentiles, that they must repent and turn to God, and live lives consistent with such repentance.

¹³ And I desire you to know, brethren, that I have many a time intended to come to you--though until now I have been disappointed--in order that among you also I might gather some fruit from my labours, as I have already done among the rest of the Gentile nations. ¹⁴ I am already under obligations alike to Greek-speaking races and to others, to cultured and to uncultured people:

¹³ But to you Gentiles I say that, since I am an Apostle specially sent to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry,

¹⁶ that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, doing priestly duties in connexion with God's Good News so that the sacrifice--namely the Gentiles--may be acceptable to Him, being (as it is) an offering which the Holy Spirit has made holy. ¹⁷ I can therefore glory in Christ Jesus concerning the work for God in which I am engaged. ¹⁸ For I will not presume to mention any of the results that Christ has brought about by other agency than mine in securing the obedience of the Gentiles by word or deed, ¹⁹ with power manifested in signs and marvels, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. But--to speak simply of my own labours--beginning in Jerusalem and the outlying districts, I have proclaimed without reserve, even as far as Illyricum, the Good News of the Christ;

⁹ But--to use the words of Scripture--we speak of THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN NOR EAR HEARD, and which have never entered the heart of man: ALL THAT GOD HAS IN READINESS FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM. ¹⁰ For us, however, God has drawn aside the veil through the teaching of the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, including the depths of the divine nature. ¹¹ For, among human beings, who knows a man's inner thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? In the same way, also, only God's Spirit is acquainted with God's inner thoughts. ¹² But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes forth from God, that we may know the blessings that have been so freely given to us by God. ¹³ Of these we speak--not in language which man's wisdom teaches us, but in that which the Spirit teaches--adapting, as we do, spiritual words to spiritual truths.

⁵⁰ But this I tell you, brethren: our mortal bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor will what is perishable inherit what is imperishable.

⁶ For God who said, "Out of darkness let light shine," is He who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory, which is radiant on the face of Christ.

¹⁶ Therefore for the future we know no one simply as a man. Even if we have known Christ as a man, yet now we do so no longer.

¹ Later still, after an interval of fourteen years, I again went up to Jerusalem in company with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me.

⁶ From those leaders I gained nothing new. Whether they were men of importance or not, matters nothing to me--God recognizes no external distinctions. To me, at any rate, the leaders imparted nothing new. ⁷ Indeed, when they saw that I was entrusted with the preaching of the Good News to the Gentiles as Peter had been with that to the Jews-- ⁸ for He who had been at work within Peter with a view to his Apostleship to the Jews had also been at work within me with a view to my Apostleship to the Gentiles-- ⁹ and when they perceived the mission which was graciously entrusted to me, they (that is to say, James, Peter, and John, who were considered to be the pillars of the Church) welcomed Barnabas and me to their fellowship on the understanding that we were to go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews.

¹⁷ For I always beseech the God of our Lord Jesus Christ--the Father most glorious--to give you a spirit of wisdom and penetration through an intimate knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened so that you may know what is the hope which His call to you inspires, what the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in God's people,

¹ For this reason I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles--

⁵ which in earlier ages was not made known to the human race, as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles and Prophets through the Spirit-- ⁶ I mean the truth that the Gentiles are joint heirs with us Jews, and that they form one body with us, and have the same interest as we have in the promise which has been made good in Christ Jesus through the Good News, ⁷ in which I have been appointed to serve, in virtue of the work which God, in the exercise of His power within me, has graciously entrusted to me. ⁸ To me who am less than the least of all God's people has this work been graciously entrusted--to proclaim to the Gentiles the Good News of the exhaustless wealth of Christ, ⁹ and to show all men in a clear light what my stewardship is. It is the stewardship of the truth which from all the Ages lay concealed in the mind of God, the Creator of all things-- ¹⁰ concealed in order that the Church might now be used to display to the powers and authorities in the heavenly realms the innumerable aspects of God's wisdom.

²⁵ I have been appointed to serve the Church in the position of responsibility entrusted to me by God for your benefit, so that I may fully deliver God's Message-- ²⁶ the truth which has been kept secret from all ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His people, ²⁷ to whom it was His will to make known how vast a wealth of glory for the Gentile world is implied in this truth--the truth that 'Christ is in you, the hope of glory.'

¹⁶ for they still try to prevent our preaching to the Gentiles so that they may find salvation. They thus continually fill up the measure of their own sins, and God's anger in its severest form has overtaken them.

⁷ and of which I have been appointed a herald and an Apostle (I am speaking the truth: it is not a fiction), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

¹¹ of which I have been appointed a preacher, Apostle and teacher, to the Gentiles.

¹⁴ Since then the children referred to are all alike sharers in perishable human nature, He Himself also, in the same way, took on Him a share of it, in order that through death He might render powerless him who had authority over death, that is, the Devil,

²⁰ And in the synagogues he began at once to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God; ²¹ and his hearers were all amazed, and began to ask one another, "Is not this the man who in Jerusalem tried to exterminate those who called upon that Name, and came here on purpose to carry them off in chains to the High Priests?" ²² Saul, however, gained more and more influence, and as for the Jews living in Damascus, he bewildered them with his proofs that Jesus is the Christ. ²³ At length the Jews plotted to kill Saul; ²⁴ but information of their intention was given to him. They even watched the gates, day and night, in order to murder him; ²⁵ but his disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a hamper.

³² In Damascus the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the gates of the city in order to apprehend me, ³³ but through an opening in the wall I was let down in a basket, and so escaped his hands.

¹⁸ Then, three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to inquire for Peter, and I spent a fortnight with him.

²² Saul, however, gained more and more influence, and as for the Jews living in Damascus, he bewildered them with his proofs that Jesus is the Christ. ²³ At length the Jews plotted to kill Saul;

²⁶ So he came to Jerusalem and made several attempts to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, being in doubt as to whether he himself was a disciple. ²⁷ Barnabas, however, came to his assistance. He brought Saul to the Apostles, and related to them how, on his journey, he had seen the Lord, and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had fearlessly taught in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ Henceforth Saul was one of them, going in and out of the city, ²⁹ and speaking fearlessly in the name of the Lord. And he often talked with the Hellenists and had discussions with them.

¹⁷ "After my return to Jerusalem, and while praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance. ¹⁸ I saw Jesus, and He said to me, "'Make haste and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.'

³ Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-gatherer, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴⁶ While He was still addressing the people His mother and His brothers were standing on the edge of the crowd desiring to speak to Him.

⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judah?

¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean,

³ Is not this the carpenter, Mary's son, the brother of James and Joses, Jude and Simon? And do not his sisters live here among us?" So they turned angrily away.

¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot;

¹³ They entered the city, and they went up to the upper room which was now their fixed place for meeting. Their names were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.

¹⁷ But he motioned with his hand for silence, and then described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. "Tell all this to James and the brethren," he added. Then he left them, and went to another place.

⁵ Have we not a right to take with us on our journeys a Christian sister as our wife, as the rest of the Apostles do--and the Lord's brothers and Peter?

¹ James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: to the twelve tribes who are scattered over the world. All good wishes.

¹ Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are in God the Father, enfolded in His love, and kept for Jesus Christ, and called.

¹ I am telling you the truth as a Christian man--it is no falsehood, for my conscience enlightened, as it is, by the Holy Spirit adds its testimony to mine--

¹⁰ Christ knows that it is true when I say that I will not be stopped from boasting of this anywhere in Greece. ¹¹ And why? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do.

³¹ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ--He who is blessed throughout the Ages--knows that I am speaking the truth.

⁹ But some members of the so-called 'Synagogue of the Freed-men,' together with some Cyrenaeans, Alexandrians, Cilicians and men from Roman Asia, were roused to encounter Stephen in debate.

³⁰ But they kept trying to take his life. On learning this, the brethren brought him down to Caesarea, and then sent him by sea to Tarsus.

²⁵ Then Barnabas paid a visit to Tarsus to try to find Saul. ²⁶ He succeeded, and brought him to Antioch; and for a whole year they attended the meetings of the Church, and taught a large number of people. And it was in Antioch that the disciples first received the name of 'Christians.'

¹ Now there were in Antioch, in the Church there--as Prophets and teachers--barnabas, Symeon surnamed 'the black,' Lucius the Cyrenaean, Manaen (who was Herod the Tetrarch's foster-brother), and Saul.

²³ and they took with them the following letter: "The Apostles and the elder brethren send greeting to the Gentile brethren throughout Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.

¹⁸ After remaining a considerable time longer in Corinth, Paul took leave of the brethren and set sail for Syria; and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had shaved his head at Cenchreae, because he was bound by a vow.

³ After sighting Cyprus and leaving that island on our left, we continued our voyage to Syria and put in at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo.

³⁹ "I am a Jew," replied Paul, "belonging to Tarsus in Cilicia, and am a citizen of no unimportant city. Give me leave, I pray you, to speak to the people."

³⁴ Felix, after reading the letter, inquired from what province he was; and being told "from Cilicia,"

⁷ and to Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen, who once shared my imprisonment. They are of note among the Apostles, and are Christians of longer standing than myself.

³⁰ But you--and it is all God's doing--are in Christ Jesus: He has become for us a wisdom which is from God, consisting of righteousness and sanctification and deliverance;

¹ Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus: To all God's people in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ministers of the Church and their assistants.

¹⁴ For you, brethren, followed the example of the Churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judaea; seeing that you endured the same ill-treatment at the hands of your countrymen, as they did at the hands of the Jews.

¹ Paul, Silas, and Timothy: To the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Meanwhile God's Message continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem very greatly increased, and very many priests obeyed the faith.

¹³ "Lord," answered Ananias, "I have heard about that man from many, and I have heard of the great mischief he has done to Thy people in Jerusalem;

²⁰ And in the synagogues he began at once to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God;

⁸ And last of all, as to one of untimely birth, He appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not fit to be called an Apostle--because I persecuted the Church of God. ¹⁰ But what I am I am by the grace of God, and His grace bestowed upon me did not prove ineffectual. But I labored more strenuously than all the rest--yet it was not I, but God's grace working with me.

¹³ though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and had been insolent in outrage. Yet mercy was shown me, because I had acted ignorantly, not having as yet believed; ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord came to me in overflowing fulness, conferring faith on me and the love which is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Faithful is the saying, and deserving of universal acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; among whom I stand foremost. ¹⁶ But mercy was shown me in order that in me as the foremost of sinners Christ Jesus might display the fulness of His long-suffering patience as an example to encourage those who would afterwards be resting their faith on Him with a view to the Life of the Ages.

⁸ And the crowds were awe-struck when they saw it, and ascribed the glory to God who had entrusted such power to a man.

¹⁶ All were awe-struck, and they gave glory to God--some saying, "A Prophet, a great Prophet, has risen up among us." Others said, "God has not forgotten His People."

¹⁰ "I tell you that in the same way there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one repentant sinner."

³² We are bound to make merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and has been found.'"

¹⁸ This statement of Peter's silenced his opponents. They extolled the goodness of God, and said, "So, then, to the Gentiles also God has given the repentance which leads to Life."

¹⁹ After exchanging friendly greetings, Paul told in detail all that God had done among the Gentiles through his instrumentality. ²⁰ And they, when they had heard his statement, gave the glory to God. Then they said, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of Jews there are among those who have accepted the faith, and they are all zealous upholders of the Law.

¹³ For, by the practical proof of it which you exhibit in this service, you cause God to be extolled for your fidelity to your professed adherence to the Good News of the Christ, and for the liberality of your contributions for them and for all who are in need,

³ We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, constantly praying for you as we do, ⁴ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you cherish towards all God's people,

¹⁰ when He comes on that day to be glorified in His people and to be wondered at among all who have believed, including you--because you believed the testimony which we brought for your acceptance.

¹² in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and that you may be glorified in Him--so wonderful is the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ!