John 8 Cross References - WNT

¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² At break of day however He returned to the Temple, and there the people came to Him in crowds. He seated Himself; ³ and was teaching them when the Scribes and the Pharisees brought to Him a woman who had been found committing adultery. They made her stand in the centre of the court, and they put the case to Him. ⁴ "Rabbi," they said, "this woman has been found in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵ Now, in the Law, Moses has ordered us to stone such women to death. But what do you say?" ⁶ They asked this in order to put Him to the test, so that they might have some charge to bring against Him. But Jesus leant forward and began to write with His finger on the ground. ⁷ When however they persisted with their question, He raised His head and said to them, "Let the sinless man among you be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸ Then He leant forward again, and again began to write on the ground. ⁹ They listened to Him, and then, beginning with the eldest, took their departure, one by one, till all were gone. And Jesus was left behind alone--and the woman in the centre of the court. ¹⁰ Then, raising His head, Jesus said to her, "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?" ¹¹ "No one, Sir," she replied. "And *I* do not condemn you either," said Jesus; "go, and from this time do not sin any more." ¹² Once more Jesus addressed them. "I am the Light of the world," He said; "the man who follows me shall certainly not walk in the dark, but shall have the light of Life." ¹³ "You are giving testimony about yourself," said the Pharisees; "your testimony is not true." ¹⁴ "Even if I am giving testimony about myself," replied Jesus, "my testimony is true; for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you know neither of these two things. ¹⁵ You judge according to appearances: I am judging no one. ¹⁶ And even if I do judge, my judgement is just; for I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me. ¹⁷ In your own Law, too, it is written that THE TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN IS TRUE. ¹⁸ I am one giving testimony about myself, and the Father who sent me gives testimony about me." ¹⁹ "Where is your Father?" they asked. "You know my Father as little as you know me." He replied; "if you knew me, you would know my Father also." ²⁰ These sayings He uttered in the Treasury, while teaching in the Temple; yet no one arrested Him, because His time had not yet come. ²¹ Again He said to them, "I am going away. Then you will try to find me, but you will die in your sins. Where I am going, it is impossible for you to come." ²² The Jews began to ask one another, "Is he going to kill himself, do you think, that he says, 'Where I am going, it is impossible for you to come'?" ²³ "You," He continued, "are from below, I am from above: you are of this present world, I am not of this present world. ²⁴ That is why I told you that you will die in your sins; for, unless you believe that I am He, that is what will happen." ²⁵ "You--who are you?" they asked. "How is it that I am speaking to you at all?" replied Jesus. ²⁶ "Many things I have to speak and to judge concerning you. But He who sent me is true, and the things which I have heard from Him are those which I have come into the world to speak." ²⁷ They did not perceive that He was speaking to them of the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus added, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He. Of myself I do nothing; but as the Father has taught me, so I speak. ²⁹ And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone: for I do always what is pleasing to Him." ³⁰ As He thus spoke, many became believers in Him. ³¹ Jesus therefore said to those of the Jews who had now believed in Him, "As for you, if you hold fast to my teaching, then you are truly my disciples; ³² and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free." ³³ "We are descendants of Abraham," they answered, "and have never at any time been in slavery to any one. What do those words of yours mean, 'You shall become free'?" ³⁴ "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that every one who commits sin is the slave of sin. ³⁵ Now a slave does not remain permanently in his master's house, but a son does. ³⁶ If then the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ You are descendants of Abraham, I know; but you want to kill me, because my teaching gains no ground within you. ³⁸ The words I speak are those I have learnt in the presence of the Father. Therefore you also should do what you have heard from your father." ³⁹ "Our father is Abraham," they said. "If you were Abraham's children," replied Jesus, "it is Abraham's deeds that you would be doing. ⁴⁰ But, in fact, you are longing to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth which I have heard from God. Abraham did not do that. ⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of your father." "We," they replied, "are not illegitimate children. We have one Father, namely God." ⁴² "If God were your Father," said Jesus, "you would love me; for it is from God that I came and I am now here. I have not come of myself, but *He* sent me. ⁴³ How is it you do not understand me when I speak? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my words. ⁴⁴ The father whose sons you are is the Devil; and you desire to do what gives him pleasure. *He* was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth--for there is no truth in him. Whenever he utters his lie, he utters it out of his own store; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which of *you* convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ He who is a child of God listens to God's words. You do not listen to them: and why? It is because you are not God's children." ⁴⁸ "Are we not right," answered the Jews, "in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?" ⁴⁹ "I am not possessed by a demon," replied Jesus. "On the contrary I honour my Father, and you dishonour me. ⁵⁰ I, however, am not aiming at glory for myself: there is One who aims at glory for me--and who judges. ⁵¹ In most solemn truth I tell you that if any one shall have obeyed my teaching he shall in no case ever see death." ⁵² "Now," exclaimed the Jews, "we know that you are possessed by a demon. Abraham died, and so did the Prophets, and yet *you* say, 'If any one shall have obeyed my teaching, he shall in no case ever taste death.' ⁵³ Are you really greater than our forefather Abraham? For he died. And the prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?" ⁵⁴ "Were I to glorify myself," answered Jesus, "I should have no real glory. There is One who glorifies me--namely my Father, who you say is your God. ⁵⁵ You do not know Him, but I know Him perfectly; and were I to deny my knowledge of Him, I should resemble you, and be a liar. On the contrary I do know Him, and I obey His commands. ⁵⁶ Abraham your forefather exulted in the hope of seeing my day: and he saw it, and was glad." ⁵⁷ "You are not yet fifty years old," cried the Jews, "and have you seen Abraham?" ⁵⁸ "In most solemn truth," answered Jesus, "I tell you that before Abraham came into existence, I am." ⁵⁹ Thereupon they took up stones with which to stone Him, but He hid Himself and went away out of the Temple.

¹ When they were come near Jerusalem and had arrived at Bethphage and the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of the disciples on in front,

¹ When they were getting near Jerusalem and had arrived at Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples on in front, with these instructions.

³ He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite to the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew, apart from the others asked Him,

³⁷ And when He was now getting near Jerusalem, and descending the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began in their joy to praise God in loud voices for all the mighty deeds they had witnessed.

¹ Seeing the multitude of people, Jesus went up the Hill. There He seated Himself, and when His disciples came to Him, ² He proceeded to teach them, and said:

⁵⁵ Then said Jesus to the crowds, "Have you come out as if to fight with a robber, with swords and bludgeons to apprehend me? Day after day I have been sitting teaching in the Temple, and you did not arrest me.

²⁰ And rolling up the book, He returned it to the attendant, and sat down--to speak. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

³ and going on board one of them, which was Simon's He asked him to push out a little from land. Then He sat down and taught the crowd of people from the boat.

³⁷ His habit at this time was to teach in the Temple by day, but to go out and spend the night on the Mount called the Oliveyard.

³⁴ "My food," said Jesus, "is to be obedient to Him who sent me, and fully to accomplish His work.

²⁰ These sayings He uttered in the Treasury, while teaching in the Temple; yet no one arrested Him, because His time had not yet come.

¹⁷ "Do not for a moment suppose that I have come to abrogate the Law or the Prophets: I have not come to abrogate them but to give them their completion.

⁶ Thus they are no longer two, but 'one'! What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." ⁷ "Why then," said they, "did Moses command the husband to give her 'a written notice of divorce,' and so put her away?" ⁸ "Moses," He replied, "in consideration of the hardness of your nature permitted you to put away your wives, but it has not been so from the beginning.

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. ¹⁷ Give us your judgement therefore: is it allowable for us to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?" ¹⁸ Perceiving their wickedness, Jesus replied, "Why are you hypocrites trying to ensnare me?

¹⁶ "Remember it is I who am sending you out, as sheep into the midst of wolves; prove yourselves as sagacious as serpents, and as innocent as doves.

²³ But He answered her not a word. Then the disciples interposed, and begged Him, saying, "Send her away because she keeps crying behind us."

¹ Here the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Him; and, to make trial of Him, they asked Him to show them a sign in the sky.

³ Then came some of the Pharisees to Him to put Him to the proof by the question, "Has a man a right to divorce his wife whenever he chooses?"

¹⁸ Perceiving their wickedness, Jesus replied, "Why are you hypocrites trying to ensnare me?

³⁵ and one of them, an expounder of the Law, asked Him as a test question,

⁶³ Jesus however remained silent. Again the High Priest addressed Him. "In the name of the ever-living God," he said, "I now put you on your oath. Tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God."

¹¹ The Pharisees followed Him and began to dispute with Him, asking Him for a sign in the sky, to make trial of Him.

² Presently a party of Pharisees come to Him with the question--seeking to entrap Him, "May a man divorce his wife?"

¹⁵ Shall we pay, or shall we refuse to pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, replied, "Why try to ensnare me? Bring me a shilling for me to look at."

²⁵ Then an expounder of the Law stood up to test Him with a question. "Rabbi," he asked, "what shall I do to inherit the Life of the Ages?"

¹⁶ Others, to put Him to the test, asked Him for a sign in the sky.

⁵³ After He had left the house, the Scribes and Pharisees commenced a vehement attempt to entangle Him and make Him give off-hand answers on numerous points, ⁵⁴ lying in wait to catch some unguarded expression from His lips.

²⁰ So, after impatiently watching their opportunity, they sent spies who were to act the part of good and honest men, that they might fasten on some expression of His, so as to hand Him over to the ruling power and the Governor's authority. ²¹ So they put a question to Him. "Rabbi," they said, "we know that you say and teach what is right and that you make no distinctions between one man and another, but teach God's way truly. ²² Is it allowable to pay a tax to Caesar, or not?" ²³ But He saw through their knavery and replied,

² At break of day however He returned to the Temple, and there the people came to Him in crowds. He seated Himself;

⁹ And do not let us test the Lord too far, as some of them tested Him and were destroyed by the serpents.

¹ "Judge not, that you may not be judged; ² for your own judgement will be dealt--and your own measure meted--to yourselves. ³ And why do you look at the splinter in your brother's eye, and not notice the beam which is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how say to your brother, 'Allow me to take the splinter out of your eye,' while the beam is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to remove the splinter from your brother's eye.

²⁵ "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you wash clean the outside of the cup or dish, while within they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first wash clean the inside of the cup or dish, and then the outside will be clean also. ²⁷ "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are just like whitewashed sepulchres, the outside of which pleases the eye, though inside they are full of dead men's bones and of all that is unclean. ²⁸ The same is true of you: outwardly you seem to the human eye to be good and honest men, but, within, you are full of insincerity and disregard of God's Law.

⁴⁶ "No mere man has ever spoken as this man speaks," said the officers.

¹ You are therefore without excuse, O man, whoever you are who sit in judgement upon others. For when you pass judgement on your fellow man, you condemn yourself; for you who sit in judgement upon others are guilty of the same misdeeds; ² and we know that God's judgement against those who commit such sins is in accordance with the truth. ³ And you who pronounce judgement upon those who do such things although your own conduct is the same as theirs--do you imagine that you yourself will escape unpunished when God judges?

²¹ you then who teach your fellow man, do you refuse to teach yourself? You who cry out against stealing, are you yourself a thief? ²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you plunder their temples? ²³ You who make your boast in the Law, do you offend against its commands and so dishonour God? ²⁴ FOR THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILE NATIONS BECAUSE OF YOU, as Holy Writ declares. ²⁵ Circumcision does indeed profit, if you obey the Law; but if you are a Law-breaker, the fact that you have been circumcised counts for nothing.

²⁴ If, on the other hand, every one is prophesying and an unbeliever or an ungifted man comes in, he is convicted by all and closely examined by all, ²⁵ and the hidden evils of his heart are brought to light. And, as the result, he will fall on his face and worship God, and will report to others that of a truth God is among you.

⁶ Let your language be always seasoned with the salt of grace, so that you may know how to give every man a fitting answer.

¹² For God's Message is full of life and power, and is keener than the sharpest two-edged sword. It pierces even to the severance of soul from spirit, and penetrates between the joints and the marrow, and it can discern the secret thoughts and purposes of the heart. ¹³ And no created thing is able to escape its scrutiny; but everything lies bare and completely exposed before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

¹⁶ In His right hand He held seven stars, and a sharp, two-edged sword was seen coming from His mouth; and His glance resembled the sun when it is shining with its full strength.

¹⁶ Repent, at once; or else I will come to you quickly, and will make war upon them with the sword which is in My mouth.

¹⁵ From His mouth there comes a sharp sword with which He will smite the nations; and He will Himself be their Shepherd, ruling them with a scepter of iron; and it is His work to tread the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Ruler of all.

¹⁴ King Herod heard of all this (for the name of Jesus had become widely known), and he kept saying, "John the Baptizer has come back to life, and that is why these miraculous Powers are working in him." ¹⁵ Others asserted that He was Elijah. Others again said, "He is a Prophet, like one of the great Prophets." ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of Him, he said, "The John, whom I beheaded, has come back to life."

¹ Meanwhile the people had come streaming towards Him by tens of thousands, so that they were trampling one another under foot. And now He proceeded to say to His disciples first, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is to say, beware of hypocrisy. ² There is nothing that is covered up which will not be uncovered, nor hidden which will not become known. ³ Whatever therefore you have said in the dark, will be heard in the light; and what you have whispered within closed doors will be proclaimed from the house-tops.

¹⁷ When He had said this, all His opponents were ashamed, while the whole multitude was delighted at the many glorious things continually done by Him.

¹⁰ Then, raising His head, Jesus said to her, "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

¹² Once more Jesus addressed them. "I am the Light of the world," He said; "the man who follows me shall certainly not walk in the dark, but shall have the light of Life."

¹⁵ since they exhibit proof that a knowledge of the conduct which the Law requires is engraven on their hearts, while their consciences also bear witness to the Law, and their thoughts, as if in mutual discussion, accuse them or perhaps maintain their innocence--

²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you plunder their temples?

²⁰ in whatever matters our hearts condemn us--because God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

²⁸ "But give me your judgement. There was a man who had two sons. He came to the elder of them, and said, "'My son, go and work in the vineyard to-day.' ²⁹ "'I will not,' he replied. "But afterwards he was sorry, and went. ³⁰ He came to the second and spoke in the same manner. His answer was, "'I will go, Sir.' "But he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did as his father desired?" "The first," they said. "I solemnly tell you,' replied Jesus, "that the tax-gatherers and the notorious sinners are entering the Kingdom of God in front of you.

³² I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners."

⁵⁶ And they went to another village.

¹³ Just then a man in the crowd appealed to Him. "Rabbi," he said, "tell my brother to give me a share of the inheritance." ¹⁴ "Man," He replied, "who has constituted me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

³ I tell you, certainly not. On the contrary, if you are not penitent you will all perish as they did.

⁵ I tell you, certainly not. On the contrary, if you do not repent you will all perish just as they did."

⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be rejoicing in Heaven over one repentant sinner--more rejoicing than over ninety-nine blameless persons who have no need of repentance.

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.'"

¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

¹⁴ Afterwards Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him, "You are now restored to health. Do not sin any more, or a worse thing may befall you."

¹⁵ You judge according to appearances: I am judging no one.

³⁶ "My kingdom," replied Jesus, "does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my subjects would have resolutely fought to save me from being delivered up to the Jews. But, as a matter of fact, my kingdom has not this origin."

⁴ Or is it that you think slightingly of His infinite goodness, forbearance and patience, unaware that the goodness of God is gently drawing you to repentance?

²⁰ Now Law was brought in later on, so that transgression might increase. But where sin increased, grace has overflowed; ²¹ in order that as sin has exercised kingly sway in inflicting death, so grace, too, may exercise kingly sway in bestowing a righteousness which results in the Life of the Ages through Jesus Christ our Lord.

³ For judges and magistrates are to be feared not by right-doers but by wrong-doers. You desire--do you not? --to have no reason to fear your ruler. Well, do the thing that is right, and then he will commend you. ⁴ For he is God's servant for your benefit. But if you do what is wrong, be afraid. He does not wear the sword to no purpose: he is God's servant--an administrator to inflict punishment upon evil-doers.

¹² For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Is it not for you to judge those who are within the Church

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.

¹⁵ And always regard the patient forbearance of our Lord as salvation, as our dear brother Paul also has written to you in virtue of the wisdom granted to him.

²¹ I have given her time to repent, but she is determined not to repent of her fornication. ²² I tell you that I am about to cast her upon a bed of sickness, and I will severely afflict those who commit adultery with her, unless they repent of conduct such as hers.

¹⁴ in order that these words, spoken through the Prophet Isaiah, might be fulfilled, ¹⁵ "ZEBULUN'S LAND AND NAPHTALI'S LAND; THE ROAD BY THE LAKE; THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE JORDAN; GALILEE OF THE NATIONS! ¹⁶ THE PEOPLE WHO WERE DWELLING IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A BRILLIANT LIGHT; AND ON THOSE WHO WERE DWELLING IN THE REGION OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, ON THEM LIGHT HAS DAWNED."

¹⁴ *You* are the light of the world; a town cannot be hid if built on a hill-top.

⁷⁸ Through the tender compassion of our God, Through which the daybreak from on high will come to us, ⁷⁹ Dawning on those who now dwell in the darkness and shadow of death--To direct our feet into the path of peace."

³² A light to shine upon the Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel."

⁴ In Him was Life, and that Life was the Light of men. ⁵ The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. ⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, in order that he might give testimony concerning the Light--so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the Light, but he existed that he might give testimony concerning the Light. ⁹ The true Light was that which illumines every man by its coming into the world.

¹⁹ And this is the test by which men are judged--the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because their deeds were wicked.

¹⁷ If any one is willing to do His will, he shall know about the teaching, whether it is from God or originates with me.

⁵ When I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."

³⁵ "Yet a little while," He replied, "the light is among you. Be faithful to the light that you have, for fear darkness should overtake you; for a man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

⁴⁶ I have come like light into the world, in order that no one who believes in me may remain in the dark.

⁶ "I am the Way," replied Jesus, "and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

⁴⁷ For such is the Lord's command to us. "'I HAVE PLACED THEE,' He says of Christ, 'AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, IN ORDER THAT THOU MAYEST BE A SAVIOUR AS FAR AS THE REMOTEST PARTS OF THE EARTH.'"

²³ since the Christ was to be a suffering Christ, and by coming back from the dead was then to be the first to proclaim a message of light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

⁴ For God did not spare angels when they had sinned, but hurling them down to Tartarus consigned them to caves of darkness, keeping them in readiness for judgement.

¹⁷ These people are wells without water, mists driven along by a storm, men for whom the dense darkness has been reserved.

⁶ And angels--those who did not keep the position originally assigned to them, but deserted their own proper abode--He reserves in everlasting bonds, in darkness, in preparation for the judgement of the great day.

¹³ wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom is reserved dense darkness of age-long duration.

²⁴ The nations will live their lives by its light; and the kings of the earth are to bring their glory into it.

³¹ "If I give testimony concerning myself, my testimony cannot be accepted. ³² There is Another who gives testimony concerning me, and I know that the testimony is true which He offers concerning me. ³³ "You sent to John, and he both was and still is a witness to the truth. ³⁴ But the testimony on my behalf which I accept is not from man; though I say all this in order that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was the lamp that burned and shone, and for a time you were willing to be gladdened by his light. ³⁶ "But the testimony which I have is weightier than that of John; for the work the Father has assigned to me for me to bring it to completion--the very work which I am doing--affords testimony concerning me that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me, *He* has given testimony concerning me. None of you have ever either heard His voice or seen what He is like. ³⁸ Nor have you His word dwelling within you, for you refuse to believe Him whom *He* has sent. ³⁹ "You search the Scriptures, because you suppose that in them you will find the Life of the Ages; and it is those Scriptures that yield testimony concerning me; ⁴⁰ and yet you are unwilling to come to me that you may have Life. ⁴¹ "I do not accept glory from man, ⁴² but I know you well, and I know that in your hearts you do not really love God. ⁴³ I have come as my Father's representative, and you do not receive me. If some one else comes representing only himself, him you will receive. ⁴⁴ How is it possible for you to believe, while you receive glory from one another and have no desire for the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ "Do not suppose that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, namely Moses, on whom your hope rests. ⁴⁶ For if you believe Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But if you disbelieve his writings, how are you to believe my words?"

²⁷ And yet we know this man, and we know where he is from; but as for the Christ, when He comes, no one can tell where He is from." ²⁸ Jesus therefore, while teaching in the Temple, cried aloud, and said, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. And yet I have not come of my own accord; but there is One who has sent me, an Authority indeed, of whom you have no knowledge. ²⁹ I know Him, because I came from Him, and He sent me."

⁴² "If God were your Father," said Jesus, "you would love me; for it is from God that I came and I am now here. I have not come of myself, but *He* sent me.

²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this fellow we do not know where he comes from." ³⁰ "Why, this is marvellous!" the man replied; "you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes!

¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I am laying down my life for the sheep.

³⁶ how is it that you say to one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am God's Son'?

³ although He knew that the Father had put everything into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was now going to God,

¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? The things that I tell you all I do not speak on my own authority: but the Father dwelling within me carries on His own work.

²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again I am leaving the world and am going to the Father."

⁸ For the truths which Thou didst teach me I have taught them. And they have received them, and have known for certain that I came out from Thy presence, and have believed that Thou didst send me.

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

¹¹ It is foolish of me to write all this, but you have compelled me to do so. Why, you ought to have been my vindicators; for in no respect have I been inferior to these superlatively great Apostles, even though in myself I am nothing.

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.

¹⁴ "And to the minister of the Church at Laodicea write as follows: "'This is what the Amen says--the true and faithful witness, the Beginning and Lord of God's Creation.

¹⁴ "Man," He replied, "who has constituted me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

²⁴ Do not form superficial judgements, but form the judgements that are just."

¹¹ "No one, Sir," she replied. "And *I* do not condemn you either," said Jesus; "go, and from this time do not sin any more."

⁴⁷ And if any one hears my teachings and regards them not, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

¹ You are therefore without excuse, O man, whoever you are who sit in judgement upon others. For when you pass judgement on your fellow man, you condemn yourself; for you who sit in judgement upon others are guilty of the same misdeeds;

¹⁵ But the spiritual man judges of everything, although he is himself judged by no one.

³ I however am very little concerned at undergoing your scrutiny, or that of other men; in fact I do not even scrutinize myself. ⁴ Though I am not conscious of having been in any way unfaithful, yet I do not for that reason stand acquitted; but He whose scrutiny I must undergo is the Lord. ⁵ Therefore form no premature judgements, but wait until the Lord returns. He will both bring to light the secrets of darkness and will openly disclose the motives that have been in people's hearts; and then the praise which each man deserves will come to him from God.

⁴ is it not plain that in your hearts you have little faith, seeing that you have become judges full of wrong thoughts?

²² The Father indeed does not judge any one, but He has entrusted all judgement to the Son, ²³ that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. The man who withholds honour from the Son withholds honour from the Father who sent Him. ²⁴ "In most solemn truth I tell you that he who listens to my teaching and believes Him who sent me, has the Life of the Ages, and does not come under judgement, but has passed over out of death into Life. ²⁵ "In most solemn truth I tell you that a time is coming--nay, has already come--when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has also given to the Son to have life in Himself. ²⁷ And He has conferred on Him authority to act as Judge, because He is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wonder not at this. For a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and will come forth-- ²⁹ they who have done what is right to the resurrection of Life, and they whose actions have been evil to the resurrection of judgement. 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.

²⁹ And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone: for I do always what is pleasing to Him."

³² "Remember that the time is coming, nay, has already come, for you all to be dispersed each to his own home and to leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

³¹ seeing that He has appointed a day on which, before long, He will judge the world in righteousness, through the instrumentality of a man whom He has pre-destined to this work, and has made the fact certain to every one by raising Him from the dead."

¹¹ Then I saw a door open in Heaven, and a white horse appeared. Its rider was named "Faithful and True" --being One who in righteousness acts as Judge, and makes war.

¹⁶ But if he will not listen to you, go again, and ask one or two to go with you, that every word spoken may be attested by two or three witnesses.

³⁴ "Does it not stand written in your Law," replied Jesus, "'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'?

²⁵ But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'THEY HAVE HATED ME WITHOUT ANY REASON.'

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."

²⁴ So that the Law has acted the part of a tutor-slave to lead us to Christ, in order that through faith we may be declared to be free from guilt.

²¹ Tell me--you who want to continue to be subject to Law--will you not listen to the Law?

²⁸ Any one who bids defiance to the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

⁹ If we accept the testimony of men, God's testimony is greater: for God's testimony consists of the things which He has testified about His Son.

³ And I will authorize My two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

³¹ "If I give testimony concerning myself, my testimony cannot be accepted. ³² There is Another who gives testimony concerning me, and I know that the testimony is true which He offers concerning me. ³³ "You sent to John, and he both was and still is a witness to the truth. ³⁴ But the testimony on my behalf which I accept is not from man; though I say all this in order that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was the lamp that burned and shone, and for a time you were willing to be gladdened by his light. ³⁶ "But the testimony which I have is weightier than that of John; for the work the Father has assigned to me for me to bring it to completion--the very work which I am doing--affords testimony concerning me that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me, *He* has given testimony concerning me. None of you have ever either heard His voice or seen what He is like. ³⁸ Nor have you His word dwelling within you, for you refuse to believe Him whom *He* has sent. ³⁹ "You search the Scriptures, because you suppose that in them you will find the Life of the Ages; and it is those Scriptures that yield testimony concerning me; ⁴⁰ and yet you are unwilling to come to me that you may have Life.

²⁵ "You--who are you?" they asked. "How is it that I am speaking to you at all?" replied Jesus.

³⁸ The words I speak are those I have learnt in the presence of the Father. Therefore you also should do what you have heard from your father."

⁵¹ In most solemn truth I tell you that if any one shall have obeyed my teaching he shall in no case ever see death."

⁵⁸ "In most solemn truth," answered Jesus, "I tell you that before Abraham came into existence, I am."

⁹ I am the Door. If any one enters by me, he will find safety, and will go in and out and find pasture.

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

¹⁴ "I am the Good Shepherd. And I know my sheep and my sheep know me,

³⁰ I and the Father are one."

²⁵ "I am the Resurrection and the Life," said Jesus; "he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live;

⁴ while God corroborated their testimony by signs and marvels and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed in accordance with His own will.

⁶ Jesus Christ is He who came with water and blood; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. And it is the Spirit who gives testimony-- because the Spirit is the Truth. ⁷ For there are three that give testimony-- the Spirit, the water, and the blood; ⁸ and there is complete agreement between these three. ⁹ If we accept the testimony of men, God's testimony is greater: for God's testimony consists of the things which He has testified about His Son. ¹⁰ He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in his own heart: he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, in that he has refused to accept the testimony which God has given about His Son. ¹¹ And that testimony is to the effect that God has given us the Life of the Ages, and that this Life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has the Life: he who has not the Son of God has not the Life.

¹⁷ When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand upon me and said, "Do not be afraid: I am the First and the Last, and the ever-living One. 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!

²⁵ About that time Jesus exclaimed, "I heartily praise Thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and of earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from sages and men of discernment, and hast unveiled them to babes.

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. ²² All things are delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, nor who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son may choose to reveal Him."

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into existence through Him, and the world did not recognize Him.

¹⁸ No human eye has ever seen God: the only Son, who is in the Father's bosom--He has made Him known.

²⁸ Jesus therefore, while teaching in the Temple, cried aloud, and said, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. And yet I have not come of my own accord; but there is One who has sent me, an Authority indeed, of whom you have no knowledge.

⁵⁴ "Were I to glorify myself," answered Jesus, "I should have no real glory. There is One who glorifies me--namely my Father, who you say is your God. ⁵⁵ You do not know Him, but I know Him perfectly; and were I to deny my knowledge of Him, I should resemble you, and be a liar. On the contrary I do know Him, and I obey His commands.

¹⁴ "I am the Good Shepherd. And I know my sheep and my sheep know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I am laying down my life for the sheep.

⁶ "I am the Way," replied Jesus, "and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you--all of you--knew me, you would fully know my Father also. From this time forward you know Him and have seen Him." ⁸ "Master," said Philip, "cause us to see the Father: that is all we need." ⁹ "Have I been so long among you," Jesus answered, "and yet you, Philip, do not know me? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can *you* ask me, 'Cause us to see the Father'?

²¹ But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me.

³ And they will do these things because they have failed to recognize the Father and to discover who I am.

³ And in this consists the Life of the Ages--in knowing Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

²⁵ And, righteous Father, though the world has failed to recognize Thee, I have known Thee, and these have perceived that Thou didst send me. ²⁶ And I have made known Thy name to them and will make it known, that the love with which Thou hast loved me may be in them, and that I may be in them."

³⁴ Wake from this drunken fit; live righteous lives, and cease to sin; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak thus in order to move you to shame.

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. ⁵ (For we do not proclaim ourselves, but we proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bondservants for the sake of Jesus.) 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.

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?

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,

¹⁰ so that your lives may be worthy of the Lord and perfectly pleasing to Him, while you exhibit the results of right action of every sort and grow into a fuller knowledge of God.

¹⁵ Christ is the visible representation of the invisible God, the Firstborn and Lord of all creation.

³ He brightly reflects God's glory and is the exact representation of His being, and upholds the universe by His all-powerful word. After securing man's purification from sin He took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

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 No one has God, who instead of remaining true to the teaching of Christ, presses on in advance: but he who remains true to that teaching has both the Father and the Son.

⁶ When the High Priests had gathered up the money they said, "It is illegal to put it into the Treasury, because it is the price of blood."

⁴¹ Having taken a seat opposite the Treasury, He observed how the people were dropping money into the Treasury, and that many of the wealthy threw in large sums.

⁴³ So He called His disciples to Him and said, "In solemn truth I tell you that this widow, poor as she is, has thrown in more than all the other contributors to the Treasury;

³¹ Just at that time there came some Pharisees who warned Him, saying, "Leave this place and continue your journey; Herod means to kill you." ³² "Go," He replied, "and take this message to that fox: "'See, to-day and to-morrow I am driving out demons and effecting cures, and on the third day I finish my course.' ³³ "Yet I must continue my journey to-day and to-morrow and the day following; for it is not conceivable that a Prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ At this the Scribes and the High Priests wanted to lay hands on Him, then and there; only they were afraid of the people. For they saw that in this parable He had referred to them.

⁸ As for you, go up to the Festival. I do not now go up to this Festival, because my time is not yet fully come."

³⁰ On hearing this they wanted to arrest Him; yet not a hand was laid on Him, because His time had not yet come.

⁴⁴ Some of them wanted at once to arrest Him, but no one laid hands upon Him.

⁵⁹ Thereupon they took up stones with which to stone Him, but He hid Himself and went away out of the Temple.

³⁹ This made them once more try to arrest Him, but He withdrew out of their power.

⁹ "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" replied Jesus. "If any one walks in the daytime, he does not stumble--because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if a man walks by night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him."

³⁹ For I tell you that you will never see me again until you say, 'BLESSED BE HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.'"

²³ "If at that time any one should say to you, 'See, here is the Christ!' or 'Here!' give no credence to it. 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.

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.

⁴⁶ "And these shall go away into the Punishment of the Ages, but the righteous into the Life of the Ages."

²² "But in course of time the beggar died; and he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and had a funeral. ²³ And in Hades, being in torment, he looked and saw Abraham in the far distance, and Lazarus resting in his arms. ²⁴ So he cried aloud, and said, "'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.' ²⁵ "'Remember, my child,' said Abraham, 'that you had all your good things during your lifetime, and that Lazarus in like manner had his bad things. But, now and here, he is receiving consolation and you are in agony. ²⁶ And, besides all this, a vast chasm is immovably fixed between us and you, put there in order that those who desire to cross from this side to you may not be able, nor any be able to cross over from your side to us.'

³⁴ You will look for me and will not find me, and where I am you cannot come."

²⁴ That is why I told you that you will die in your sins; for, unless you believe that I am He, that is what will happen."

³³ He said this to indicate the kind of death He would die.

³³ Dear children, I am still with you a little longer. You will seek me, but, as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going you cannot come,' so for the present I say to you.

¹⁷ and if Christ has not risen, your faith is a vain thing--you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ It follows also that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

¹ To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,

²⁰ "You are possessed by a demon," replied the crowd; "no one wants to kill you."

³⁵ The Jews therefore said to one another, "Where is he about to betake himself, so that we shall not find him? Will he betake himself to the Dispersion among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

⁴⁸ "Are we not right," answered the Jews, "in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?"

⁵² "Now," exclaimed the Jews, "we know that you are possessed by a demon. Abraham died, and so did the Prophets, and yet *you* say, 'If any one shall have obeyed my teaching, he shall in no case ever taste death.'

²⁰ Many of them said, "He is possessed by a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to him?"

³ Therefore, if you would escape becoming weary and faint-hearted, compare your own sufferings with those of Him who endured such hostility directed against Him by sinners.

¹³ Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, sharing the insults directed against Him.

¹⁴ And the Word came in the flesh, and lived for a time in our midst, so that we saw His glory--the glory as of the Father's only Son, sent from His presence. He was full of grace and truth.

¹³ There is no one who has gone up to Heaven, but there is One who has come down from Heaven, namely the Son of Man whose home is in Heaven.

³¹ He who comes from above is above all. He whose origin is from the earth is not only himself from the earth, his teaching also is from the earth. He who comes from Heaven is above all.

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.

¹⁶ They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

⁷ Abandonment to earthly things is a state of enmity to God. Such a mind does not submit to God's Law, and indeed cannot do so. ⁸ And those whose hearts are absorbed in earthly things cannot please God.

⁴⁷ The first man is a man of earth, earthy; the second man is from Heaven. ⁴⁸ What the earthy one is, that also are those who are earthy; and what the heavenly One is, that also are those who are heavenly.

¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their bellies are their God, their glory is in their shame, and their minds are devoted to earthly things. ²⁰ We, however, are free citizens of Heaven, and we are waiting with longing expectation for the coming from Heaven of a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, in the exercise of the power which He has even to subject all things to Himself, will transform this body of our humiliation until it resembles His own glorious body.

¹⁵ That is not the wisdom which comes down from above: it belongs to earth, to the unspiritual nature, and to evil spirits. ¹⁶ For where envy and rivalry are, there also are unrest and every vile deed. ¹⁷ The wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceful, courteous, not self-willed, full of compassion and kind actions, free from favouritism and from all insincerity.

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.

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.

⁵ They are the world's children, and so their language is that of the world, and the world listens to them. We are God's children. ⁶ The man who is beginning to know God listens to us, but he who is not a child of God does not listen to us. By this test we can distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.

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.

⁶ Many will come assuming my name and saying, 'I am He;' and they will mislead many.

¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who disbelieves will be condemned.

⁸ "See to it," He replied, "that you are not misled; for many will come assuming my name and professing, 'I am He,' or saying, 'The time is close at hand.' Do not go and follow them.

¹⁸ He who trusts in Him does not come up for judgement. He who does not trust has already received sentence, because he has not his trust resting on the name of God's only Son.

³⁶ He who believes in the Son has the Life of the Ages; he who disobeys the Son will not enter into Life, but God's anger remains upon him.

²⁶ "I am He," said Jesus-- "I who am now talking to you."

²¹ Again He said to them, "I am going away. Then you will try to find me, but you will die in your sins. Where I am going, it is impossible for you to come."

¹⁹ From this time forward I tell you things before they happen, in order that when they do happen you may believe that I am He.

¹² And in no other is the great salvation to be found; for, in fact, there is no second name under Heaven that has been given among men through which we are to be saved."

³ how shall *we* escape if we are indifferent to a salvation as great as that now offered to us? This, after having first of all been announced by the Lord Himself, had its truth made sure to us by those who heard Him,

²⁶ For if we wilfully persist in sin after having received the full knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains in reserve any other sacrifice for sins. ²⁷ There remains nothing but a certain awful expectation of judgement, and the fury of a fire which before long will devour the enemies of the truth. ²⁸ Any one who bids defiance to the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much severer punishment, think you, will he be held to deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, has not regarded as holy that Covenant-blood with which he was set free from sin, and has insulted the Spirit from whom comes grace?

²⁵ Be careful not to refuse to listen to Him who is speaking to you. For if they of old did not escape unpunished when they refused to listen to him who spoke on earth, much less shall we escape who turn a deaf ear to Him who now speaks from Heaven.

⁶⁷ "Are you the Christ? Tell us." "If I tell you," He replied, "you will certainly not believe;

¹⁹ This also is John's testimony, when the Jews sent to him a deputation of Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who he was.

²² So they pressed the question. "Who are you?" they said-- "that we may take an answer to those who sent us. What account do you give of yourself?"

¹⁷ His reply to their accusation was, "My Father works unceasingly, and so do I." ¹⁸ On this account then the Jews were all the more eager to put Him to death--because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also spoke of God as being in a special sense His Father, thus putting Himself on a level with God. 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. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and reveals to Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater deeds than these will He reveal to Him, in order that you may wonder. ²¹ For just as the Father awakens the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom He wills. ²² The Father indeed does not judge any one, but He has entrusted all judgement to the Son, ²³ that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. The man who withholds honour from the Son withholds honour from the Father who sent Him. ²⁴ "In most solemn truth I tell you that he who listens to my teaching and believes Him who sent me, has the Life of the Ages, and does not come under judgement, but has passed over out of death into Life. ²⁵ "In most solemn truth I tell you that a time is coming--nay, has already come--when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has also given to the Son to have life in Himself. ²⁷ And He has conferred on Him authority to act as Judge, because He is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wonder not at this. For a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and will come forth-- ²⁹ they who have done what is right to the resurrection of Life, and they whose actions have been evil to the resurrection of judgement.

²⁴ when the Jews gathered round Him and kept asking Him, "How long do you mean to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us so plainly."

⁹ "What is your origin?" he asked. But Jesus gave him no answer.

³² What He has seen and heard, to that He bears witness; but His testimony no one receives. ³³ Any man who has received His testimony has solemnly declared that God is true.

⁴² but I know you well, and I know that in your hearts you do not really love God. ⁴³ I have come as my Father's representative, and you do not receive me. If some one else comes representing only himself, him you will receive.

¹⁶ Jesus answered their question by saying, "My teaching does not belong to me, but comes from Him who sent me.

¹⁶ And even if I do judge, my judgement is just; for I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me. ¹⁷ In your own Law, too, it is written that THE TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN IS TRUE.

⁴⁰ But, in fact, you are longing to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth which I have heard from God. Abraham did not do that.

³⁹ "I came into this world," said Jesus, "to judge men, that those who do not see may see, and that those who do see may become blind." ⁴⁰ These words were heard by those of the Pharisees who were present, and they asked Him, "Are *we* also blind?" ⁴¹ "If you were blind," answered Jesus, "you would have no sin; but as a matter of fact you boast that you see. So your sin remains!"

⁴⁷ And if any one hears my teachings and regards them not, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ He who sets me at naught and does not receive my teachings is not left without a judge: the Message which I have spoken will judge him on the last day. ⁴⁹ Because I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me, Himself gave me a command what to say and in what words to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is the Life of the Ages. What therefore I speak, I speak just as the Father has bidden me."

¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you.

¹² "I have much more to say to you, but you are unable at present to bear the burden of it.

¹⁸ As certainly as God is faithful, our language to you is not now "Yes" and now "No."

¹¹ Concerning Him we have much to say, and much that it would be difficult to make clear to you, since you have become so dull of apprehension. ¹² For although, considering the long time you have been believers, you ought now to be teachers of others, you really need some one to teach you over again the very rudiments of the truths of God, and you have come to require milk instead of solid food.

⁴³ How is it you do not understand me when I speak? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my words.

⁴⁷ He who is a child of God listens to God's words. You do not listen to them: and why? It is because you are not God's children."

⁷ How then does the matter stand? It stands thus. That which Israel are in earnest pursuit of, they have not obtained; but God's chosen servants have obtained it, and the rest have become hardened. ⁸ And so Scripture says, "GOD HAS GIVEN THEM A SPIRIT OF DROWSINESS--EYES TO SEE NOTHING WITH AND EARS TO HEAR NOTHING WITH--EVEN UNTIL NOW." ⁹ And David says, "LET THEIR VERY FOOD BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP TO THEM, A STUMBLING-BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION. ¹⁰ LET DARKNESS COME OVER THEIR EYES THAT THEY MAY BE UNABLE TO SEE, AND MAKE THOU THEIR BACKS CONTINUALLY TO STOOP."

³ If, however, the meaning of our Good News has been veiled, the veil has been on the hearts of those who are on the way to perdition, 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.

⁵⁰ But Jesus uttered another loud cry and then yielded up His spirit. ⁵¹ Immediately the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom: the earth quaked; the rocks split; ⁵² the tombs opened; and many of God's people who were asleep in death awoke. ⁵³ And coming out of their tombs after Christ's resurrection they entered the holy city and showed themselves to many. ⁵⁴ As for the Captain and the soldiers who were with Him keeping guard over Jesus, when they witnessed the earthquake and the other occurrences they were filled with terror, and exclaimed, "Assuredly he was God's Son."

¹¹ In most solemn truth I tell you that we speak what we know, and give testimony of that of which we were eye-witnesses, and yet you all reject our testimony.

¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted high the serpent in the Desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

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 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.

⁴² I know that Thou always hearest me; but for the sake of the crowd standing round I have said this--that they may believe that Thou didst send me."

³² And I-- if I am lifted up from the earth--will draw all men to me." ³³ He said this to indicate the kind of death He would die. ³⁴ The crowd answered Him, "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ remains for ever. In what sense do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is that Son of Man?"

¹⁰ of righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me;

¹⁸ where they nailed Him to a cross, and two others at the same time, one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

⁴¹ Those, therefore, who joyfully welcomed his Message were baptized; and on that one day about three thousand persons were added to them;

⁴ But many of those who had listened to their preaching believed; and the number of the adult men had now grown to be about 5,000.

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,

¹⁵ Those Jewish persecutors killed both the Lord Jesus and the Prophets, and drove us out of their midst. They are displeasing to God, and are the enemies of all mankind; 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.

² For if the message delivered through angels proved to be true, and every transgression and act of disobedience met with just retribution, ³ how shall *we* escape if we are indifferent to a salvation as great as that now offered to us? This, after having first of all been announced by the Lord Himself, had its truth made sure to us by those who heard Him,

¹⁷ while a voice came from Heaven, saying, "This is My Son, the dearly loved, in whom is My delight."

⁵ He was still speaking when a luminous cloud spread over them; and a voice was heard from within the cloud, which said, "This is My Son dearly beloved, in whom is My delight. Listen to Him."

¹⁶ And even if I do judge, my judgement is just; for I am not alone, but the Father who sent me is with me.

¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? The things that I tell you all I do not speak on my own authority: but the Father dwelling within me carries on His own work. ¹¹ Believe me, all of you, that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me; or at any rate, believe me because of what I do.

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."

¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love.

⁴ I have glorified Thee on earth, having done perfectly the work which by Thine appointment has been mine to do.

¹⁷ The Lord, however, stood by me and filled me with inward strength, that through me the Message might be fully proclaimed and that all the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the lion's jaws.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.

¹⁵ For we have not a High Priest who is unable to feel for us in our weaknesses, but one who was tempted in every respect just as we are tempted, and yet did not sin.

⁸ Although He was God's Son, yet He learned obedience from the sufferings which He endured; ⁹ and so, having been made perfect, He became to all who obey Him the source and giver of eternal salvation.

²⁶ Moreover we needed just such a High Priest as this--holy, guileless, undefiled, far removed from sinful men and exalted above the heavens;

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.

¹ Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous;

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem, at the Festival of the Passover, many became believers in Him through watching the miracles He performed.

¹⁴ Thereupon the people, having seen the miracle He had performed, said, "This is indeed the Prophet who was to come into the world."

³¹ But from among the crowd a large number believed in Him. "When the Christ comes," they said, "will He perform more miracles than this teacher has performed?"

⁴² And many became believers in Him there.

⁴⁵ Thereupon a considerable number of the Jews--namely those who had come to Mary and had witnessed His deeds--became believers in Him;

¹³ but those who stand firm to the End shall be saved.

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, and said of him, "Look! here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceitfulness!"

⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

⁶⁶ Thereupon many of His disciples left Him and went away, and no longer associated with Him. ⁶⁷ Jesus therefore appealed to the Twelve. "Will you go also?" He asked. ⁶⁸ "Master," replied Simon Peter, "to whom shall we go? Your teachings tell us of the Life of the Ages. ⁶⁹ And we have come to believe and know that *you* are indeed the Holy One of God." ⁷⁰ "Did not I choose you--the Twelve?" said Jesus, "and even of you one is a devil." ⁷¹ He alluded to Judas, the son of Simon the Iscariot. For he it was who, though one of the Twelve, was afterwards to betray Him.

³⁶ If then the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed.

⁴ Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. ⁵ I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. ⁷ "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love.

⁴³ And, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and of the devout converts from heathenism continued with Paul and Barnabas, who talked to them and urged them to hold fast to the grace of God.

²² Everywhere they strengthened the disciples by encouraging them to hold fast to the faith, and warned them saying, "It is through many afflictions that we must make our way into the Kingdom of God."

²² Having, however, obtained the help which is from God, I have stood firm until now, and have solemnly exhorted rich and poor alike, saying nothing except what the Prophets and Moses predicted as soon to happen,

⁷ to those on the one hand who, by lives of persistent right-doing, are striving for glory, honour and immortality, the Life of the Ages;

²² Notice therefore God's kindness and God's severity. On those who have fallen His severity has descended, but upon you His kindness has come, provided that you do not cease to respond to that kindness. Otherwise you will be cut off also.

²³ if, indeed, you are still firmly holding to faith as your foundation, without ever shifting from your hope that rests on the Good News that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under Heaven, and in which I Paul have been appointed to serve.

¹⁵ Yet a woman will be brought safely through childbirth if she and her husband continue to live in faith and love and growing holiness, with habitual self-restraint.

¹⁶ Be on your guard as to yourself and your teaching. Persevere in these things; for by doing this you will make certain your own salvation and that of your hearers.

³ Honour widows who are really in need. ⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let these learn first to show piety towards their own homes and to prove their gratitude to their parents; for this is well pleasing in the sight of God. ⁵ A widow who is really in need, friendless and desolate, has her hopes fixed on God, and continues at her supplications and prayers, night and day;

¹⁴ But you must cling to the things which you have learnt and have been taught to believe, knowing who your teachers were,

¹⁴ For we have, all alike, become sharers with Christ, if we really hold our first confidence firm to the End;

⁹ A COVENANT UNLIKE THE ONE WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FOREFATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY WOULD NOT REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THAT.' 'SO I TURNED FROM THEM,' SAYS THE LORD.

³⁸ BUT IT IS BY FAITH THAT MY RIGHTEOUS SERVANT SHALL LIVE; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL TAKES NO PLEASURE IN HIM." ³⁹ But we are not people who shrink back and perish, but are among those who believe and gain possession of their souls.

²⁵ But he who looks closely into the perfect Law--the Law of freedom--and continues looking, he, being not a hearer who forgets, but an obedient doer, will as the result of his obedience be blessed.

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.

²⁴ As for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. If that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the Son and with the Father.

²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

¹¹ "Because," He replied, "while to you it is granted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of the Heavens, to them it is not. ¹² For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but whoever has not, from him even what he has shall be taken away.

⁴⁵ It stands written in the Prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL OF THEM BE TAUGHT BY GOD'. Every one who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.

¹³ But when He has come--the Spirit of Truth--He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak as Himself originating what He says, but all that He hears He will speak, and He will make known the future to you.

¹⁷ Make them holy in the truth: Thy Message is truth.

¹⁴ For Sin shall not be lord over you, since you are subjects not of Law, but of grace. ¹⁵ Are we therefore to sin because we are no longer under the authority of Law, but under grace? No, indeed! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you surrender yourselves as bondservants to obey any one, you become the bondservants of him whom you obey, whether the bondservants of Sin (with death as the result) or of Duty (resulting in righteousness)? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that though you were once in thraldom to Sin, you have now yielded a hearty obedience to that system of truth in which you have been instructed. ¹⁸ You were set free from the tyranny of Sin, and became the bondservants of Righteousness--

²² But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy, and you have the Life of the Ages as the final result.

² for the Spirit's Law-- telling of Life in Christ Jesus--has set me free from the Law that deals only with sin and death.

¹⁵ You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness of being--a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons--a conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, "Abba! our Father!"

¹⁷ Now by "the Lord" is meant the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is enjoyed. ¹⁸ And all of us, with unveiled faces, reflecting like bright mirrors the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same likeness, from one degree of radiant holiness to another, even as derived from the Lord the Spirit.

¹ Christ having made us gloriously free--stand fast and do not again be hampered with the yoke of slavery.

¹³ You however, brethren, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an excuse for giving way to your lower natures; but become bondservants to one another in a spirit of love.

²⁵ He must speak in a gentle tone when correcting the errors of opponents, in the hope that God will at last give them repentance, for them to come to a full knowledge of the truth ²⁶ and recover sober-mindedness and freedom from the Devil's snare, though they are now entrapped by him to do his will.

⁷ and are always learning something new, and yet are never able to arrive at real knowledge of the truth.

¹² Speak and act as those should who are expecting to be judged by the Law of freedom.

¹⁶ Be free men, and yet do not make your freedom an excuse for base conduct, but be God's bondservants.

⁹ and do not imagine that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our forefather,' for I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.

³⁷ You are descendants of Abraham, I know; but you want to kill me, because my teaching gains no ground within you.

³⁹ "Our father is Abraham," they said. "If you were Abraham's children," replied Jesus, "it is Abraham's deeds that you would be doing.

²⁵ Now standing close to the cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.

¹⁸ Solemnly I tell you that until Heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or smallest detail will pass away from the Law until all has taken place.

³ "In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

²³ For I perceive that you have fallen into the bitterest bondage of unrighteousness."

⁶ This we know--that our old self was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our sinful nature might be deprived of its power, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin;

¹² Let not Sin therefore reign as king in your mortal bodies, causing you to be in subjection to their cravings;

¹⁶ Do you not know that if you surrender yourselves as bondservants to obey any one, you become the bondservants of him whom you obey, whether the bondservants of Sin (with death as the result) or of Duty (resulting in righteousness)?

¹⁹ your human infirmity leads me to employ these familiar figures--and just as you once surrendered your faculties into bondage to Impurity and ever-increasing disregard of Law, so you must now surrender them into bondage to Righteousness ever advancing towards perfect holiness. ²⁰ For when you were the bondservants of sin, you were under no sort of subjection to Righteousness.

¹⁴ For we know that the Law is a spiritual thing; but I am unspiritual--the slave, bought and sold, of sin.

²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!) To sum up then, with my understanding, I--my true self--am in servitude to the Law of God, but with my lower nature I am in servitude to the Law of sin.

²¹ Yet there was always the hope that at last the Creation itself would also be set free from the thraldom of decay so as to enjoy the liberty that will attend the glory of the children of God.

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.

³ For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.

¹⁹ And they promise them freedom, although they are themselves the slaves of what is corrupt. For a man is the slave of any one by whom he has been worsted in fight.

⁸ He who is habitually guilty of sin is a child of the Devil, because the Devil has been a sinner from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for the purpose of undoing the work of the Devil. 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. ¹⁰ By this we can distinguish God's children and the Devil's children: no one who fails to act righteously is a child of God, nor he who does not love his brother man.

⁴¹ "He will put the wretches to a wretched death," was the reply, "and will entrust the vineyard to other vine-dressers who will render the produce to him at the vintage season." ⁴² "Have you never read in the Scriptures," said Jesus, "'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BEEN MADE THE CORNERSTONE: THIS CORNERSTONE CAME FROM THE LORD, AND IS WONDERFUL IN OUR EYES'? ⁴³ "That, I tell you, is the reason why the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a nation that will exhibit the power of it.

³¹ "'You my dear son,' said the father, 'are always with me, and all that is mine is also yours.

¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me: because I live, you also shall live. ²⁰ At that time you will know that I am in my Father, and that you are in me, and that I am in you.

¹⁵ You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness of being--a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons--a conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, "Abba! our Father!" ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness, along with our own spirits, to the fact that we are children of God; ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs too--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ; if indeed we are sharers in Christ's sufferings, in order that we may also be sharers in His glory.

²⁹ For those whom He has known beforehand He has also pre-destined to bear the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Eldest in a vast family of brothers; 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.

⁴ But, when the time was fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born subject to Law, ⁵ in order to purchase the freedom of all who were subject to Law, so that we might receive recognition as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of His Son to enter your hearts and cry "Abba! our Father!" ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir also through God's own act.

³⁰ But what says the Scripture? "SEND AWAY THE SLAVE-GIRL AND HER SON, FOR NEVER SHALL THE SLAVE-GIRL'S SON SHARE THE INHERITANCE WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN." ³¹ Therefore, brethren, since we are not the children of a slave-girl, but of the free woman--

³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

⁵ Moreover, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant in delivering the message given him to speak; ⁶ but Christ was faithful as a Son having authority over God's house, and we are that house, if we hold firm to the End the boldness and the hope which we boast of as ours.

² chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, with a view to their obedience and to their being sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. May more and more grace and peace be granted to you. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has begotten us anew to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance imperishable, undefiled and unfading, which has been reserved in Heaven for you, ⁵ whom God in His power is guarding through faith for a salvation that even now stands ready for unveiling at the End of the Age.

¹⁸ "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PROCLAIM GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO ANNOUNCE RELEASE TO THE PRISONERS OF WAR AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND: TO SEND AWAY FREE THOSE WHOM TYRANNY HAS CRUSHED,

³¹ Jesus therefore said to those of the Jews who had now believed in Him, "As for you, if you hold fast to my teaching, then you are truly my disciples; ³² and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free."

¹⁷ Now by "the Lord" is meant the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is enjoyed.

¹⁵ FOR THIS PEOPLE'S MIND IS STUPEFIED, THEIR HEARING HAS BECOME DULL, AND THEIR EYES THEY HAVE CLOSED; TO PREVENT THEIR EVER SEEING WITH THEIR EYES, OR HEARING WITH THEIR EARS, OR UNDERSTANDING WITH THEIR MINDS, AND TURNING BACK, SO THAT I MIGHT HEAL THEM.'

¹⁹ When a man hears the Message concerning the Kingdom and does not understand it, the Evil one comes and catches away what has been sown in his heart. This is he who has received the seed by the road-side. ²⁰ He who has received the seed on the rocky ground is the man who hears the Message and immediately receives it with joy. ²¹ It has struck no root, however, within him. He continues for a time, but when suffering comes, or persecution, because of the Message, he at once stumbles and falls. ²² He who has received the seed among the thorns is the man who hears the Message, but the cares of the present age and the delusions of riches quite stifle the Message, and it becomes unfruitful.

¹⁶ and on this account the Jews began to persecute Jesus--because He did these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ His reply to their accusation was, "My Father works unceasingly, and so do I." ¹⁸ On this account then the Jews were all the more eager to put Him to death--because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also spoke of God as being in a special sense His Father, thus putting Himself on a level with God.

⁴⁴ How is it possible for you to believe, while you receive glory from one another and have no desire for the glory that comes from the only God?

¹ After this Jesus moved from place to place in Galilee. He would not go about in Judaea, because the Jews were seeking an opportunity to kill Him.

¹⁹ Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not a man of you obeys the Law. Why do you want to kill me?"

²⁵ Some however of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is not this the man they are wanting to kill?

⁶ They asked this in order to put Him to the test, so that they might have some charge to bring against Him. But Jesus leant forward and began to write with His finger on the ground.

³³ "We are descendants of Abraham," they answered, "and have never at any time been in slavery to any one. What do those words of yours mean, 'You shall become free'?"

³⁹ "Our father is Abraham," they said. "If you were Abraham's children," replied Jesus, "it is Abraham's deeds that you would be doing. ⁴⁰ But, in fact, you are longing to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth which I have heard from God. Abraham did not do that.

⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which of *you* convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ He who is a child of God listens to God's words. You do not listen to them: and why? It is because you are not God's children."

³¹ Again the Jews brought stones with which to stone Him.

⁵³ So from that day forward they planned and schemed in order to put Him to death.

³⁹ For this reason they were unable to believe--because Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰ "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND MADE THEIR MINDS CALLOUS, LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR MINDS, AND SHOULD TURN, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM." ⁴¹ Isaiah uttered these words because he saw His glory; and he spoke of Him. ⁴² Nevertheless even from among the Rulers many believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not avow their belief, for fear they should be shut out from the synagogue. ⁴³ For they loved the glory that comes from men rather than the glory that comes from God.

²⁶ "Brethren, descendants of the family of Abraham, and all among you who fear God, to us has this Message of salvation been sent.

⁷ nor because they are Abraham's true children. But the promise was "THROUGH ISAAC SHALL YOUR POSTERITY BE RECKONED."

¹⁴ The unspiritual man rejects the things of the Spirit of God, and cannot attain to the knowledge of them, because they are spiritually judged.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he exclaimed, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

³² What He has seen and heard, to that He bears witness; but His testimony no one receives.

²⁶ "Many things I have to speak and to judge concerning you. But He who sent me is true, and the things which I have heard from Him are those which I have come into the world to speak."

⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of your father." "We," they replied, "are not illegitimate children. We have one Father, namely God."

⁴⁴ The father whose sons you are is the Devil; and you desire to do what gives him pleasure. *He* was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth--for there is no truth in him. Whenever he utters his lie, he utters it out of his own store; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

²⁴ He who has no love for me does not obey my teaching; and yet the teaching to which you are listening is not mine, but is the teaching of the Father who sent me.

⁴⁵ that so you may become true sons of your Father in Heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the wicked as well as the good, and sends rain upon those who do right and those who do wrong.

²⁸ For the true Jew is not the man who is simply a Jew outwardly, and true circumcision is not that which is outward and bodily. 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.

¹² and the forefather of the circumcised, namely of those who not merely are circumcised, but also walk in the steps of the faith which our forefather Abraham had while he was as yet uncircumcised.

¹⁶ All depends on faith, and for this reason--that acceptance with God might be an act of pure grace,

⁷ Notice therefore that those who possess faith are true sons of Abraham.

²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are indeed true descendants of Abraham, and are heirs in fulfilment of the promise.

²² You notice that his faith was co-operating with his actions, and that by his actions his faith was perfected; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND HIS FAITH WAS PLACED TO HIS CREDIT AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he received the name of 'God's friend.' ²⁴ You all see that it is because of actions that a man is pronounced righteous, and not simply because of faith.

³⁷ You are descendants of Abraham, I know; but you want to kill me, because my teaching gains no ground within you. ³⁸ The words I speak are those I have learnt in the presence of the Father. Therefore you also should do what you have heard from your father."

⁵⁶ Abraham your forefather exulted in the hope of seeing my day: and he saw it, and was glad."

¹⁶ Can it be that I have become your enemy through speaking the truth to you?

²⁹ Yet just as, at that time, the child born in the common course of nature persecuted the one whose birth was due to the power of the Spirit, so it is now.

¹² We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ As for us, we know that we have already passed out of death into Life--because we love our brother men. He who is destitute of love continues dead. ¹⁵ Every one who hates his brother man is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has the Life of the Ages continuing in him.

⁴ His tail was drawing after it a third part of the stars of Heaven, and it dashed them to the ground. And in front of the woman who was about to become a mother, the Dragon was standing in order to devour the child as soon as it was born.

¹² For this reason be glad, O Heaven, and you who live in Heaven! Alas for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you; full of fierce anger, because he knows that his appointed time is short." ¹³ And when the Dragon saw that he was hurled down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male child.

¹⁷ This made the Dragon furiously angry with the woman, and he went elsewhere to make war upon her other children--those who keep God's commandments and hold fast to the testimony of Jesus.

²³ that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. The man who withholds honour from the Son withholds honour from the Father who sent Him.

⁴³ I have come as my Father's representative, and you do not receive me. If some one else comes representing only himself, him you will receive.

⁴⁹ Because I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me, Himself gave me a command what to say and in what words to speak.

²³ He who hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father.

²⁷ for the Father Himself holds you dear, because you have held me dear and have believed that I came from the Father's presence. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again I am leaving the world and am going to the Father."

²⁵ And, righteous Father, though the world has failed to recognize Thee, I have known Thee, and these have perceived that Thou didst send me.

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

⁴ But, when the time was fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born subject to Law,

⁹ God's love for us has been manifested in that He has sent His only Son into the world so that we may have Life through Him. ¹⁰ This is love indeed--we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹⁴ And we have seen and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

¹ Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God; and every one who loves the Father loves also Him who is the Father's Child. ² The fact that we love God Himself, and obey His commands, is a proof that we love God's children.

¹ Then he showed me the river of the Water of Life, bright as crystal, issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

⁶⁰ Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is hard to accept. Who can listen to such teaching?"

²⁷ They did not perceive that He was speaking to them of the Father.

³⁹ For this reason they were unable to believe--because Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰ "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND MADE THEIR MINDS CALLOUS, LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR MINDS, AND SHOULD TURN, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM."

⁵¹ "O stiff-necked men, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you also are continually at strife with the Holy Spirit--just as your forefathers were.

¹¹ THERE IS NOT ONE WHO IS REALLY WISE, NOR ONE WHO IS A DILIGENT SEEKER AFTER GOD.

³⁸ the field is the world; the good seed--these are the sons of the Kingdom; the darnel, the sons of the Evil one.

⁷⁰ "Did not I choose you--the Twelve?" said Jesus, "and even of you one is a devil."

³ "Ananias," said Peter, "why has Satan taken possession of your heart, that you should try to deceive the Holy Spirit and dishonestly keep back part of the price paid you for this land?

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?

³ But I am afraid that, as the serpent in his craftiness deceived Eve, so your minds may be led astray from their single-heartedness and their fidelity to Christ.

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. ¹⁵ It is therefore no great thing for his servants also to disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be in accordance with their actions.

⁹ The appearing of the Lawless one will be attended by various miracles and tokens and delusive marvels--for so Satan works-- ¹⁰ and by every kind of wicked deception for those who are on the way to perdition because they did not welcome into their hearts the love of the truth, so that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God sends them a misleading influence that they may believe the lie;

¹ What causes wars and contentions among you? Is it not the cravings which are ever at war within you for various pleasures? ² You covet things and yet cannot get them; you commit murder; you have passionate desires and yet cannot gain your end; you begin to fight and make war. You have not, because you do not pray; ³ or you pray and yet do not receive, because you pray wrongly, your object being to waste what you get on some pleasure or another. 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. ⁵ Or do you suppose that it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "The Spirit which He has caused to dwell in our hearts yearns jealously over us"? ⁶ But He gives more abundant grace, as is implied in His saying, "GOD SETS HIMSELF AGAINST THE HAUGHTY, BUT TO THE LOWLY HE GIVES GRACE." ⁷ Submit therefore to God: resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸ Curb every passion, and be on the alert. Your great accuser, the Devil, is going about like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour.

⁴ He who professes to know Him, and yet does not obey His commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart.

¹² We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous.

¹⁵ Every one who hates his brother man is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has the Life of the Ages continuing in him.

¹⁰ Dismiss your fears concerning all that you are about to suffer. I tell you that the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be put to the test, and for ten days you will have to endure persecution. Be faithful to the End, even if you have to die, and then I will give you the victor's Wreath of Life.

¹¹ The locusts had a king over them--the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is 'Abaddon,' while in the Greek he is called 'Apollyon.'

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.

⁶ And he opened his mouth to utter blasphemies against God, to speak evil of His name and of His dwelling-place--that is to say, of those who dwell in Heaven. ⁷ And permission was given him to make war upon God's people and conquer them; and power was given him over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸ And all the inhabitants of the earth will be found to be worshipping him: every one whose name is not recorded in the Book of Life--the Book of the Lamb who has been offered in sacrifice ever since the creation of the world.

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.

² He laid hold of the Dragon--the ancient serpent--who is the Devil and the Adversary, and bound him for a thousand years, and hurled him into the bottomless pit. 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.

⁷ But when the thousand years are at an end, the Adversary will be released from his imprisonment, ⁸ and will go out to lead astray the nations in all the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and assemble them for war, and they are like the sands on the seashore in number. ⁹ And they went up over the whole breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of God's people and the beloved city. But fire came down from Heaven and consumed them; ¹⁰ and the Devil, who had been leading them astray, was thrown into the Lake of fire and sulphur where the Wild Beast and the false Prophet were, and day and night they will suffer torture until the Ages of the Ages.

⁸ But as for cowards and the unfaithful, and the polluted, and murderers, fornicators, and those who practise magic or worship idols, and all liars--the portion allotted to them shall be in the Lake which burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death."

¹⁵ The unclean are shut out, and so are all who practise magic, all fornicators, all murderers, and those who worship idols, and every one who loves falsehood and tells lies.

¹⁹ And this is the test by which men are judged--the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because their deeds were wicked. ²⁰ For every wrongdoer hates the light, and does not come to the light, for fear his actions should be exposed and condemned.

⁷ It is impossible for the world to hate you; but me it does hate, because I give testimony concerning it that its conduct is evil.

³⁷ "So then *you* are a king!" rejoined Pilate. "Yes," said Jesus, "you say truly that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world--to give testimony for the truth. Every one who is a friend of the truth listens to my voice."

¹⁰ and by every kind of wicked deception for those who are on the way to perdition because they did not welcome into their hearts the love of the truth, so that they might be saved.

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.

²⁵ John's Baptism, whence was it? --had it a heavenly or a human origin?" So they debated the matter among themselves. "If we say 'a heavenly origin,'" they argued, "he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

³¹ So they debated the matter with one another. "Suppose we say, 'Heavenly,'" they argued, "he will ask, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

⁷ When however they persisted with their question, He raised His head and said to them, "Let the sinless man among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

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;

⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world in respect of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; --

²¹ He has made Him who knew nothing of sin to be sin for us, in order that in Him we may become the righteousness of God.

²² He never sinned, and no deceitful language was ever heard from His mouth.

¹² But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God; ¹³ who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from God.

⁴⁵ It stands written in the Prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL OF THEM BE TAUGHT BY GOD'. Every one who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has ever seen the Father--except Him who is from God. He has seen the Father.

⁶⁵ So He added, "That is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted him by the Father."

⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me.

²⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

⁶ "I have revealed Thy perfections to the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to me, and they have obeyed Thy message. ⁷ Now they know that whatever Thou hast given me is from Thee. ⁸ For the truths which Thou didst teach me I have taught them. And they have received them, and have known for certain that I came out from Thy presence, and have believed that Thou didst send me.

¹⁰ By this we can distinguish God's children and the Devil's children: no one who fails to act righteously is a child of God, nor he who does not love his brother man.

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. ² The test by which you may recognize the Spirit of God is that every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come as man is from God, ³ and that no spirit is from God which does not acknowledge this about Jesus. Such is the spirit of the anti-Christ; of whose coming you have heard, and it is already in the world. ⁴ As for you, dear children, you are God's children, and have successfully resisted them; for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

¹ Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God; and every one who loves the Father loves also Him who is the Father's Child.

¹¹ My dear friend, do not follow wrong examples, but right ones. He who habitually does what is right is a child of God: he who habitually does what is wrong has not seen God.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent on a mission, after giving them their instructions: "Go not," He said, "among the Gentiles, and enter no Samaritan town;

²⁵ Enough for the learner to be on a level with his teacher, and for the servant to be on a level with his master. If they have called the master of the house Baal-zebul, how much more will they slander his servants?

²⁴ The Pharisees heard it and said, "This man only expels demons by the power of Baal-zebul, the Prince of demons."

³¹ This is why I tell you that men may find forgiveness for every other sin and impious word, but that for impious speaking against the Holy Spirit they shall find no forgiveness.

⁷ Hypocrites! well did Isaiah prophesy of you,

⁹ "How is it," replied the woman, "that a Jew like you asks me, who am a woman and a Samaritan, for water?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

¹³ You call me 'The Rabbi' and 'The Master,' and rightly so, for such I am.

³ For even the Christ did not seek His own pleasure. His principle was, "THE REPROACHES WHICH THEY ADDRESSED TO THEE HAVE FALLEN ON ME."

¹⁹ You believe that God is one, and you are quite right: evil spirits also believe this, and shudder."

¹⁵ "Let it be so on this occasion," Jesus replied; "for so we ought to fulfil every religious duty." Then he consented; ¹⁶ and Jesus was baptized, and immediately went up from the water. At that moment the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him, ¹⁷ while a voice came from Heaven, saying, "This is My Son, the dearly loved, in whom is My delight."

⁴ Jesus received the message and said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is to promote the glory of God, in order that the Son of God may be glorified by it."

²⁸ Father, glorify Thy name." Thereupon there came a voice from the sky, "I have glorified it and will also glorify it again."

³¹ So when he was gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. ³² Moreover God will glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him without delay.

¹³ And whatever any of you ask in my name, I will do, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

⁶ Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped. ⁷ Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men. ⁸ And being recognized as truly human, He humbled Himself and even stooped to die; yes, to die on a cross. ⁹ It is in consequence of this that God has also so highly exalted Him, and has conferred on Him the Name which is supreme above every other, ¹⁰ in order that in the Name of JESUS every knee should bow, of beings in Heaven, of those on the earth, and of those in the underworld, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

²³ When He was reviled, He did not answer with reviling; when He suffered He uttered no threats, but left His wrongs in the hands of the righteous Judge.

²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and reveals to Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater deeds than these will He reveal to Him, in order that you may wonder. ²¹ For just as the Father awakens the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom He wills. ²² The Father indeed does not judge any one, but He has entrusted all judgement to the Son, ²³ that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. The man who withholds honour from the Son withholds honour from the Father who sent Him.

⁴¹ "I do not accept glory from man,

⁴⁵ "Do not suppose that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, namely Moses, on whom your hope rests.

¹⁸ The man whose teaching originates with himself aims at his own glory. He who aims at the glory of Him who sent him teaches the truth, and there is no deception in him.

⁵⁴ "Were I to glorify myself," answered Jesus, "I should have no real glory. There is One who glorifies me--namely my Father, who you say is your God.

⁴⁷ And if any one hears my teachings and regards them not, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ He who sets me at naught and does not receive my teachings is not left without a judge: the Message which I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

²⁶ To him it had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Anointed One.

¹⁵ in order that every one who trusts in Him may have the Life of the Ages." ¹⁶ For so greatly did God love the world that He gave His only Son, that every one who trusts in Him may not perish but may have the Life of Ages.

²⁴ "In most solemn truth I tell you that he who listens to my teaching and believes Him who sent me, has the Life of the Ages, and does not come under judgement, but has passed over out of death into Life.

⁵⁰ Here is the bread that comes down out of Heaven that a man may eat it and not die.

⁵⁵ You do not know Him, but I know Him perfectly; and were I to deny my knowledge of Him, I should resemble you, and be a liar. On the contrary I do know Him, and I obey His commands.

²⁵ "I am the Resurrection and the Life," said Jesus; "he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live; ²⁶ and every one who is living and is a believer in me shall never, never die. Do you believe this?"

²⁰ Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

⁵ Through faith Enoch was taken from the earth so that he did not see death, and he could not be found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken we have evidence that he truly pleased God.

²⁴ A second time therefore they called the man who had been blind, and said, "Give God the praise: we know that that man is a sinner."

⁹ But Jesus--who was made a little inferior to the angels in order that through God's grace He might taste death for every human being--we already see wearing a crown of glory and honour because of His having suffered death.

¹³ All these died in the possession of faith. They had not received the promised blessings, but had seen them from a distance and had greeted them, and had acknowledged themselves to be foreigners and strangers here on earth;

⁶ But I tell you that there is here that which is greater than the Temple.

⁴¹ There will stand up men of Nineveh at the Judgement together with the present generation, and will condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and mark! there is One greater than Jonah here. ⁴² The Queen of the south will awake at the Judgement together with the present generation, and will condemn it; because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and mark! there is One greater than Solomon here.

¹² Are you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us the well, and himself drank from it, as did also his sons and his cattle?"

¹⁸ On this account then the Jews were all the more eager to put Him to death--because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also spoke of God as being in a special sense His Father, thus putting Himself on a level with God.

²⁹ What my Father has given me is more precious than all besides; and no one is able to wrest anything from my Father's hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one."

³³ "For no good deed," the Jews replied, "are we going to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God."

³⁴ The crowd answered Him, "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ remains for ever. In what sense do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is that Son of Man?"

⁷ "We," replied the Jews, "have a Law, and in accordance with that Law he ought to die, for having claimed to be the Son of God."

⁵ To them the Patriarchs belong, and from them in respect of His human lineage came the Christ, who is exalted above all, God blessed throughout the Ages. Amen.

² How faithful He was to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house! ³ For Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, in so far as he who has built a house has higher honour than the house itself.

¹ For this man, Melchizedek, King of Salem and priest of the Most High God--he who when Abraham was returning after defeating the kings met him and pronounced a blessing on him-- ² to whom also Abraham presented a tenth part of all--being first, as his name signifies, King of righteousness, and secondly King of Salem, that is, King of peace: ³ with no father or mother, and no record of ancestry: having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made a type of the Son of God--this man Melchizedek remains a priest for ever. ⁴ Now think how great this priest-king must have been to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth part of the best of the spoil. ⁵ And those of the descendants of Levi who receive the priesthood are authorized by the Law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brethren, though these have sprung from Abraham. ⁶ But, in this instance, one who does not trace his origin from them takes tithes from Abraham, and pronounces a blessing on him to whom the promises belong. ⁷ And beyond all dispute it is always the inferior who is blessed by the superior.

¹¹ This, the first of His miracles, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee, and thus displayed His glorious power; and His disciples believed in Him.

³¹ "If I give testimony concerning myself, my testimony cannot be accepted. ³² There is Another who gives testimony concerning me, and I know that the testimony is true which He offers concerning me.

³⁹ He referred to the Spirit which those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not bestowed as yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁵⁰ I, however, am not aiming at glory for myself: there is One who aims at glory for me--and who judges.

¹⁴ He will glorify me, because He will take of what is mine and will make it known to you. ¹⁵ Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit of Truth takes of what is mine and will make it known to you.

¹ When Jesus had thus spoken, He raised his eyes towards Heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee;

⁵ And now, Father, do Thou glorify me in Thine own presence, with the glory that I had in Thy presence before the world existed.

¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has conferred this honour on His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to let Him go.

¹⁷ And since you claim the name of Jew, and find rest and satisfaction in the Law, and make your boast in God, ¹⁸ and know the supreme will, and can test things that differ--being a man who receives instruction from the Law-- ¹⁹ and have persuaded yourself that, as for you, you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ a schoolmaster for the dull and ignorant, a teacher of the young, because in the Law you possess an outline of real knowledge and an outline of the truth: ²¹ you then who teach your fellow man, do you refuse to teach yourself? You who cry out against stealing, are you yourself a thief? ²² You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who loathe idols, do you plunder their temples? ²³ You who make your boast in the Law, do you offend against its commands and so dishonour God? ²⁴ FOR THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILE NATIONS BECAUSE OF YOU, as Holy Writ declares. ²⁵ Circumcision does indeed profit, if you obey the Law; but if you are a Law-breaker, the fact that you have been circumcised counts for nothing. ²⁶ In the same way if an uncircumcised man pays attention to the just requirements of the Law, shall not his lack of circumcision be overlooked, and, ²⁷ although he is a Gentile by birth, if he scrupulously obeys the Law, shall he not sit in judgement upon you who, possessing, as you do, a written Law and circumcision, are yet a Law-breaker?

¹⁸ For it is not the man that commends himself who is really approved, but he whom the Lord commends.

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, ²¹ high above all other government and authority and power and dominion, and every title of sovereignty used either in this Age or in the Age to come. ²² God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body, ²³ the completeness of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself.

⁴ And no one takes this honourable office upon himself, but only accepts it when called to it by God, as Aaron was. ⁵ So Christ also did not claim for Himself the honour of being made High Priest, but was appointed to it by Him who said to Him, "MY SON ART THOU: I HAVE TO-DAY BECOME THY FATHER;"

¹² To them it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you, when they foretold the very things which have now been openly declared to you by those who, having been taught by the Holy Spirit which had been sent from Heaven, brought you the Good News. Angels long to stoop and look into these things.

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.

¹⁷ He received honour and glory from God the Father, and out of the wondrous glory words such as these were spoken to Him, "This is My dearly-loved Son, in whom I take delight."

²⁷ "All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father, nor does any one fully know the Father except the Son and all to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

²² All things are delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, nor who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son may choose to reveal Him."

⁴⁶ No one has ever seen the Father--except Him who is from God. He has seen the Father.

¹⁹ "Where is your Father?" they asked. "You know my Father as little as you know me." He replied; "if you knew me, you would know my Father also."

²³ For as I passed along and observed the things you worship, I found also an altar bearing the inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' "The Being, therefore, whom you, without knowing Him, revere, Him I now proclaim to you.

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.

²² Who is a liar compared with him who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He who disowns the Father and the Son is the anti-Christ.

¹⁰ He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in his own heart: he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, in that he has refused to accept the testimony which God has given about His Son.

⁹ I will cause some belonging to Satan's synagogue who say that they themselves are Jews, and are not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall at your feet and know for certain that I have loved you.

¹⁷ For I solemnly tell you that many Prophets and holy men have longed to see the sights you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the words you hear, and have not heard them.

²⁸ he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ²⁹ "Now, O Sovereign Lord, Thou dost send Thy servant away in peace, in fulfilment of Thy word, ³⁰ Because mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,

²⁴ For I tell you that many Prophets and kings have desired to see the things you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things you hear, and have not heard them."

⁷ Notice therefore that those who possess faith are true sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that in consequence of faith God would declare the nations to be free from guilt, sent beforehand the Good News to Abraham, saying, "IN YOU ALL THE NATIONS SHALL BE BLESSED." ⁹ So we see that it is those who possess faith that are blessed with believing Abraham.

³⁹ And although by their faith all these people won God's approval, none of them received the fulfilment of His great promise;

¹⁰ There were Prophets who earnestly inquired about that salvation, and closely searched into it--even those who spoke beforehand of the grace which was to come to you. ¹¹ They were eager to know the time which the Spirit of Christ within them kept indicating, or the characteristics of that time, when they solemnly made known beforehand the sufferings that were to come upon Christ and the glories which would follow. ¹² To them it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you, when they foretold the very things which have now been openly declared to you by those who, having been taught by the Holy Spirit which had been sent from Heaven, brought you the Good News. Angels long to stoop and look into these things.

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God.

³⁴ "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that every one who commits sin is the slave of sin.

²⁴ "Father, those whom Thou hast given me--I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see the glory--my glory--my gift from Thee, which Thou hast given me because Thou didst love me before the creation of the world.

¹⁷ And HE IS before all things and in and through Him the universe is a harmonious whole.

¹⁰ It is also of His Son that God says, "THOU, O LORD, IN THE BEGINNING DIDST LAY THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORK OF THY HANDS. ¹¹ THE HEAVENS WILL PERISH, BUT THOU REMAINEST; AND THEY WILL ALL GROW OLD LIKE A GARMENT, ¹² AND, AS THOUGH THEY WERE A MANTLE THOU WILT ROLL THEM UP; YES, LIKE A GARMENT, AND THEY WILL UNDERGO CHANGE. BUT THOU ART THE SAME, AND THY YEARS WILL NEVER COME TO AN END."

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day--yes, and to the ages to come.

⁸ "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "He who is and was and evermore will be--the Ruler of all."

¹¹ It said, "Write forthwith in a roll an account of what you see, and send it to the seven Churches--to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyateira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

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.

²⁹ They rose, hurried Him outside the town, and brought Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, to throw Him down the cliff; ³⁰ but He passed through the midst of them and went His way.

³¹ their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. But He vanished from them.

¹³ But the man who had been cured did not know who it was; for Jesus had passed out unnoticed, there being a crowd in the place.

⁵ Now, in the Law, Moses has ordered us to stone such women to death. But what do you say?" ⁶ They asked this in order to put Him to the test, so that they might have some charge to bring against Him. But Jesus leant forward and began to write with His finger on the ground.

³⁰ I and the Father are one." ³¹ Again the Jews brought stones with which to stone Him. ³² Jesus remonstrated with them. "Many good deeds," He said, "have I shown you as coming from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" ³³ "For no good deed," the Jews replied, "are we going to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God."

³⁹ This made them once more try to arrest Him, but He withdrew out of their power. ⁴⁰ Then He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had been baptizing at first; and there He stayed.

⁸ "Rabbi," exclaimed the disciples, "the Jews have just been trying to stone you, and do you think of going back there again?"

⁵⁴ Therefore Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but He left that neighbourhood and went into the district near the Desert, to a town called Ephraim, and remained there with the disciples.

³⁶ In the degree that you have light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." Jesus said this, and went away and hid Himself from them.

³¹ "Take him yourselves," said Pilate, "and judge him by your Law." "We have no power," replied the Jews, "to put any man to death."

⁵⁷ Upon this, with a loud outcry they stopped their ears, rushed upon Stephen in a body,

³⁹ But no sooner had they come up out of the water than the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again. With a glad heart he resumed his journey; ⁴⁰ but Philip found himself at Ashdod. Then visiting town after town he everywhere made known the Good News until he reached Caesarea.