Romans 2 Cross References - WNT

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? 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? ⁵ The fact is that in the stubbornness of your impenitent heart you are treasuring up against yourself anger on the day of Anger--the day when the righteousness of God's judgements will stand revealed. ⁶ TO EACH MAN HE WILL MAKE AN AWARD CORRESPONDING TO HIS ACTIONS; 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; ⁸ while on the other hand upon the self-willed who disobey the truth and obey unrighteousness will fall anger and fury, affliction and awful distress, ⁹ coming upon the soul of every man and woman who deliberately does wrong--upon the Jew first, and then upon the Gentile; ¹⁰ whereas glory, honour and peace will be given to every one who does what is good and right--to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. ¹¹ For God pays no attention to this world's distinctions. ¹² For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned whilst living under the Law, will be judged by the Law. ¹³ It is not those that merely hear the Law read who are righteous in the sight of God, but it is those that obey the Law who will be pronounced righteous. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles who have no Law obey by natural instinct the commands of the Law, they, without having a Law, are a Law to themselves; 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-- ¹⁶ on the day when God will judge the secrets of men's lives by Jesus Christ, as declared in the Good News as I have taught it. 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? 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.

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.

²⁹ "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you repair the sepulchres of the Prophets and keep in order the tombs of the righteous, ³⁰ and your boast is, "'If we had lived in the time of our forefathers, we should not have been implicated with them in the murder of the Prophets.' ³¹ "So that you bear witness against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the Prophets.

³⁷ "Judge not, and you shall not be judged; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned; pardon, and you shall be pardoned;

²² "'By your own words,' he replied, 'I will judge you, you bad servant. You knew me to be a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow:

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.

¹⁸ For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is angry: ¹⁹ because what may be known about Him is plain to their inmost consciousness; for He Himself has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For, from the very creation of the world, His invisible perfections--namely His eternal power and divine nature--have been rendered intelligible and clearly visible by His works, so that these men are without excuse.

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?

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?

²⁰ Nay, but who are you, a mere man, that you should cavil against GOD? SHALL THE THING MOULDED SAY TO HIM WHO MOULDED IT, "WHY HAVE YOU MADE ME THUS?"

¹⁶ For what assurance have you, O woman, as to whether you will save your husband? Or what assurance have you, O man, as to whether you will save your wife?

²⁰ But, idle boaster, are you willing to be taught how it is that faith apart from obedience is worthless? Take the case of Abraham our forefather.

¹¹ Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. The man who speaks evil of a brother-man or judges his brother-man speaks evil of the Law and judges the Law. But if you judge the Law, you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it.

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."

⁵ The fact is that in the stubbornness of your impenitent heart you are treasuring up against yourself anger on the day of Anger--the day when the righteousness of God's judgements will stand revealed.

⁴ No, indeed; let us hold God to be true, though every man should prove to be false. As it stands written, "THAT THOU MAYEST BE SHOWN TO BE JUST IN THE SENTENCE THOU PRONOUNCEST, AND GAIN THY CAUSE WHEN THOU CONTENDEST." ⁵ But if our unrighteousness sets God's righteousness in a clearer light, what shall we say? (Is God unrighteous--I speak in our everyday language-- when He inflicts punishment?

¹⁴ What then are we to infer? That there is injustice in God?

⁵ For these are a plain token of God's righteous judgement, which has in view your being deemed worthy of admission to God's Kingdom, for the sake of which, indeed, you are sufferers. ⁶ A plain token of God's righteous judgement, I say, since it is a righteous thing for Him to requite with affliction those who are now afflicting you; ⁷ and to requite with rest you who are suffering affliction now--rest with us at the re-appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, attended by His mighty angels. ⁸ He will come in flames of fire to take vengeance on those who have no knowledge of God, and do not obey the Good News as to Jesus, our Lord. ⁹ They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, being banished from the presence of the Lord and from His glorious majesty, ¹⁰ when He comes on that day to be glorified in His people and to be wondered at among all who have believed, including you--because you believed the testimony which we brought for your acceptance.

³ And they were singing the song of Moses, God's servant, and the song of the Lamb. Their words were, "Great and wonderful are Thy works, O Lord God, the Ruler of all. Righteous and true are Thy ways, O King of the nations. ⁴ Who shall not be afraid, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and shall worship Thee, because the righteousness of all that Thou hast done has been made manifest."

⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters say, "Righteous art Thou, who art and wast, the holy One, because Thou hast thus taken vengeance.

² True and just are His judgments, because He has judged the great Harlot who was corrupting the whole earth with her fornication, and He has taken vengeance for the blood of His bondservants which her hands have shed."

³³ O serpents, O vipers' brood, how are you to escape condemnation to Gehenna?

⁵³ Or do you suppose I cannot entreat my Father and He would instantly send to my help more than twelve legions of angels?

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

⁵⁸ Shortly afterwards a man saw him and said, "You, too, are one of them." "No, man, I am not," said Peter.

⁶⁰ "Man, I don't know what you mean," replied Peter. No sooner had he spoken than a cock crowed.

³² In short, though knowing full well the sentence which God pronounces against actions such as theirs, as things which deserve death, they not only practise them, but even encourage and applaud others who do them.

³ While they are saying "Peace and safety!" then in a moment destruction falls upon them, like birth-pains on a woman who is with child; and escape there is none.

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,

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.

⁴⁸ But if the man, being a bad servant, should say in his heart, 'My master is a long time in coming,' ⁴⁹ and should begin to beat his fellow servants, while he eats and drinks with drunkards;

¹⁷ "But on coming to himself he said, "'How many of my father's hired men have more bread than they want, while I here am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will rise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you: ¹⁹ I no longer deserve to be called a son of yours: treat me as one of your hired men.'

⁵ As soon as Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your house to-day." ⁶ So he came down in haste, and welcomed Him joyfully. ⁷ When they all saw this, they began to complain with indignation. "He has gone in to be the guest of a notorious sinner!" they said. ⁸ Zacchaeus however stood up, and addressing the Lord said, "Here and now, Master, I give half my property to the poor, and if I have unjustly exacted money from any man, I pledge myself to repay to him four times the amount."

²⁵ He it is whom God put forward as a Mercy-seat, rendered efficacious through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness-- because of the passing over, in God's forbearance, of the sins previously committed--

¹ To what conclusion, then, shall we come? Are we to persist in sinning in order that the grace extended to us may be the greater?

¹⁵ Are we therefore to sin because we are no longer under the authority of Law, but under grace? No, indeed!

²² And what if God, while choosing to make manifest the terrors of His anger and to show what is possible with Him, has yet borne with long-forbearing patience with the subjects of His anger who stand ready for destruction, ²³ in order to make known His infinite goodness towards the subjects of His mercy whom He has prepared beforehand for glory,

¹² Jew and Gentile are on precisely the same footing; for the same Lord is Lord over all, and is infinitely kind to all who call upon Him for deliverance.

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.

³³ Oh, how inexhaustible are God's resources and God's wisdom and God's knowledge! How impossible it is to search into His decrees or trace His footsteps!

⁷ It is in Him, and through the shedding of His blood, that we have our deliverance--the forgiveness of our offences--so abundant was God's grace,

¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened so that you may know what is the hope which His call to you inspires, what the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in God's people,

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the intense love which He bestowed on us,

⁷ in order that, by His goodness to us in Christ Jesus, He might display in the Ages to come the transcendent riches of His grace.

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

¹⁶ to grant you--in accordance with the wealth of His glorious perfections--to be strengthened by His Spirit with power penetrating to your inmost being.

¹⁹ But my God--so great is His wealth of glory in Christ Jesus--will fully supply every need of yours.

²⁷ to whom it was His will to make known how vast a wealth of glory for the Gentile world is implied in this truth--the truth that 'Christ is in you, the hope of glory.'

² in order that their hearts may be cheered, they themselves being welded together in love and enjoying all the advantages of a reasonable certainty, till at last they attain the full knowledge of God's truth, which is Christ Himself.

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.

¹⁷ Impress on those who are rich in the present age that they must not be haughty nor set their hopes on riches--that unstable foundation--but on God who provides us richly with all things for our enjoyment.

⁴ But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we, ⁵ as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

²⁰ who in ancient times had been disobedient, while God's longsuffering was patiently waiting in the days of Noah during the building of the Ark, in which a few persons--eight in number--were brought safely through the water.

³ But, above all, remember that, in the last days, men will come who make a mock at everything--men governed only by their own passions,

⁹ The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, in the sense in which some men speak of slowness. But He bears patiently with you, His desire being that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance.

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.

²⁰ I am now standing at the door and am knocking. If any one listens to My voice and opens the door, I will go in to be with him and will feast with him, and he shall feast with Me.

¹⁸ For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is angry:

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?

²² And what if God, while choosing to make manifest the terrors of His anger and to show what is possible with Him, has yet borne with long-forbearing patience with the subjects of His anger who stand ready for destruction,

²⁵ For there is a truth, brethren, not revealed hitherto, of which I do not wish to leave you in ignorance, for fear you should attribute superior wisdom to yourselves--the truth, I mean, that partial blindness has fallen upon Israel until the great mass of the Gentiles have come in;

¹³ On the contrary encourage one another, day after day, so long as To-day lasts, so that not one of you may be hardened through the deceitful character of sin.

¹⁵ seeing that the warning still comes to us, "TO-DAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS YOUR FOREFATHERS DID IN THE TIME OF THE PROVOCATION."

⁷ He again definitely mentions a certain day, "To-day," saying long afterwards, by David's lips, in the words already quoted, "TO-DAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS."

³ your gold and your silver have become covered with rust, and the rust on them will give evidence against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded up wealth in these last days.

⁹ Since all this is so, the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from temptation, and on the other hand how to keep the unrighteous under punishment in readiness for the Day of Judgement,

⁷ But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgement and of destruction for the ungodly.

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.

¹⁷ for the day of His anger--that great day--has come, and who is able to stand?"

²⁷ For the Son of Man is soon to come in the glory of the Father with His angels, and then will He requite every man according to his actions.

³⁴ "Then the King will say to those at His right, "'Come, my Father's blessed ones, receive your inheritance of the Kingdom which has been divinely intended for you ever since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was homeless, you gave me a welcome; ³⁶ when I was ill-clad, you clothed me; when I was sick, you visited me; when I was in prison, you came to see me.' ³⁷ "'When, Lord,' the righteous will reply, 'did we see Thee hungry, and feed Thee; or thirsty, and give Thee drink? ³⁸ When did we see Thee homeless, and give Thee a welcome? or ill-clad, and clothe Thee? ³⁹ When did we see Thee sick or in prison, and come to see Thee?' ⁴⁰ "But the King will answer them, "'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you rendered such services to one of the humblest of these my brethren, you rendered them to myself.' 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. ⁴² For when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat; when thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink; ⁴³ when homeless, you gave me no welcome; ill-clad, you clothed me not; sick or in prison, you visited me not.' ⁴⁴ "Then will they also answer, "'Lord, when did we see Thee hungry or thirsty or homeless or ill-clad or sick or in prison, and not come to serve Thee?' ⁴⁵ "But he will reply, "'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you withheld such services from one of the humblest of these, you withheld them from me.' ⁴⁶ "And these shall go away into the Punishment of the Ages, but the righteous into the Life of the Ages."

²² As for you and your faith, keep your faith to yourself in the presence of God. The man is to be congratulated who does not pronounce judgement on himself in what his actions sanction.

⁸ Now in aim and purpose the planter and the waterer are one; and yet each will receive his own special reward, answering to his own special work.

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.

¹⁰ For we must all of us appear before Christ's judgement-seat in our true characters, in order that each may then receive an award for his actions in this life, in accordance with what he has done, whether it be good or whether it be worthless.

⁷ Do not deceive yourselves. God is not to be scoffed at. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ He who sows in the field of his lower nature, will from that nature reap destruction; but he who sows to serve the Spirit will from the Spirit reap the Life of the Ages.

²³ Her children too shall surely die; and all the Churches shall come to know that I am He who searches into men's inmost thoughts; and to each of you I will give a requital which shall be in accordance with what your conduct has been.

¹² And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing in front of the throne. And books were opened; and so was another book--namely, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged by the things recorded in the books in accordance with what their conduct had been.

¹² "I am coming quickly; and My reward is with Me, that I may requite every man in accordance with what his conduct has been.

¹² and because of the prevalent disregard of God's law the love of the great majority will grow cold; ¹³ but those who stand firm to the End shall be saved.

¹⁵ But as for that in the good ground, it means those who, having listened to the Message with open minds and in a right spirit, hold it fast, and patiently yield a return.

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?

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."

¹⁰ whereas glory, honour and peace will be given to every one who does what is good and right--to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.

²³ For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹⁸ Why, what we now suffer I count as nothing in comparison with the glory which is soon to be manifested in us.

²⁴ It is *in hope* that we have been saved. But an object of hope is such no longer when it is present to view; for when a man has a thing before his eyes, how can he be said to hope for it? ²⁵ But if we hope for something which we do not see, then we eagerly and patiently wait for it.

²³ in order to make known His infinite goodness towards the subjects of His mercy whom He has prepared beforehand for glory,

⁵³ For so it must be: this perishable nature must clothe itself with what is imperishable, and this mortality must clothe itself with immortality. ⁵⁴ But when this perishable nature has put on what is imperishable, and this mortality has put on immortality, then will the words of Scripture be fulfilled, "DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY."

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brethren, be firm, unmovable, busily occupied at all times in the Lord's work, knowing that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.

¹⁶ Therefore we are not cowards. Nay, even though our outward man is wasting away, yet our inward man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a preponderating, yes, a vastly preponderating, and eternal weight of glory; ¹⁸ while we look not at things seen, but things unseen; for things seen are temporary, but things unseen are eternal.

⁹ Let us not abate our courage in doing what is right; for in due time we shall reap a reward, if we do not faint.

¹⁰ but which has now been plainly revealed through the Appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus. He has put an end to death and has brought Life and Immortality to light through the Good News,

⁷ I have gone through the glorious contest; I have run the race; I have guarded the faith. ⁸ From this time onward there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who love the thought of His Appearing.

¹² so that you may not become half-hearted, but be imitators of those who through faith and patient endurance are now heirs to the promises.

¹⁵ And so, as the result of patient waiting, our forefather obtained what God had promised.

³⁵ Therefore do not cast from you your confident hope, for it will receive a vast reward. ³⁶ For you stand in need of patient endurance, so that, as the result of having done the will of God, you may receive the promised blessing.

⁷ Be patient therefore, brethren, until the Coming of the Lord. Notice how eagerly a farmer waits for a valuable crop! He is patient over it till it has received the early and the later rain. ⁸ So you also must be patient: keeping up your courage; for the Coming of the Lord is now close at hand.

⁷ The sorrow comes in order that the testing of your faith--being more precious than that of gold, which perishes and yet is proved by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the re-appearing of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Him you love, though your eyes have never looked on Him. In Him, though at present you cannot see Him, you nevertheless trust, and triumph with a joy which is unspeakable and is crowned with glory,

¹³ On the contrary, in the degree that you share in the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice, so that at the unveiling of His glory you may also rejoice with triumphant gladness. ¹⁴ You are to be envied, if you are being reproached for bearing the name of Christ; for in that case the Spirit of glory-- even the Spirit of God--is resting upon you.

²⁵ And this is the promise which He Himself has given us--the Life of the Ages.

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 "'Let all who have ears give heed to what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. He who overcomes shall be in no way hurt by the Second Death.'

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. 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. ²¹ But he who does what is honest and right comes to the light, in order that his actions may be plainly shown to have been done in God.

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.

¹⁶ But, some will say, they have not all hearkened to the Good News. No, for Isaiah asks, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED THE MESSAGE THEY HAVE HEARD FROM US?"

¹⁸ For I will not presume to mention any of the results that Christ has brought about by other agency than mine in securing the obedience of the Gentiles by word or deed,

¹⁶ But if any one is inclined to be contentious on the point, we have no such custom, nor have the Churches of God.

⁸ He will come in flames of fire to take vengeance on those who have no knowledge of God, and do not obey the Good News as to Jesus, our Lord.

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; ¹² in order that all may come under judgement who have refused to believe the truth and have taken pleasure in unrighteousness.

³ So teach and exhort. If any one is a teacher of any other kind of doctrine, and refuses assent to wholesome instructions--those of our Lord Jesus Christ--and the teaching that harmonizes with true godliness, ⁴ he is puffed up with pride and has no true knowledge, but is crazy over discussions and controversies about words which give rise to envy, quarrelling, revilings, ill-natured suspicions,

⁹ But hold yourself aloof from foolish controversies and pedigrees and discussions and wrangling about the Law, for they are useless and vain.

¹² see to it, brethren, that there is never in any one of you--as perhaps there may be--a sinful and unbelieving heart, manifesting itself in revolt from the ever-living God. ¹³ On the contrary encourage one another, day after day, so long as To-day lasts, so that not one of you may be hardened through the deceitful character of sin.

⁹ and so, having been made perfect, He became to all who obey Him the source and giver of eternal salvation.

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.

⁸ Through faith Abraham, upon being called to leave home and go into a land which he was soon to receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he was going to.

¹ Married women, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands, so that even if some of them disbelieve the Message, they may, apart from the Message, be won over by the daily life of their wives, after watching your daily life--

¹⁷ For the time has come for judgement to begin, and to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who reject God's Good News?

¹⁰ he shall drink the wine of God's anger which stands ready, undiluted, in the cup of His fury, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

¹⁹ The great city was split into three parts; the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came into remembrance before God, for Him to make her drink from the wine-cup of His fierce anger.

²⁰ Then began He to upbraid the towns where most of His mighty works had been done--because they had not repented. ²¹ "Alas for thee, Chorazin!" He cried. "Alas for thee, Bethsaida! For had the mighty works been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in both of you, they would long ere now have repented, covered with sackcloth and ashes. ²² Only I tell you that it will be more endurable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of Judgement than for you. ²³ And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted even to Heaven? Even to Hades shalt thou descend. For had the mighty works been done in Sodom which have been done in thee, it would have remained until now. ²⁴ Only I tell you all, that it will be more endurable for the land of Sodom on the day of Judgement than for thee."

²⁶ Why, what benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give to buy back his life?

³⁰ Because mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, ³¹ Which Thou hast made ready in the sight of all nations-- ³² A light to shine upon the Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel."

⁴⁷ And that servant who has been told his Master's will and yet made no preparation and did not obey His will, will receive many lashes. ⁴⁸ But he who had not been told it and yet did what deserved the scourge, will receive but few lashes. To whomsoever much has been given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been entrusted, of him a larger amount will be demanded.

⁴⁷ and that proclamation would be made, in His name, of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

²⁶ It is to you first that God, after raising His Servant from the grave, has sent Him to bless you, by causing every one of you to turn from your wickedness."

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

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

⁴⁶ Then, throwing off all reserve, Paul and Barnabas said, "We were bound to proclaim God's Message to you first. But since you spurn it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of the Life of the Ages--well, we turn to the Gentiles. 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.'"

⁵ Now at the time when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was preaching fervently and was solemnly telling the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. ⁶ But upon their opposing him with abusive language, he shook his clothes by way of protest, and said to them, "Your ruin will be upon your own heads. I am not responsible: in future I will go among the Gentiles."

²¹ and urging upon both Jews and Greeks the necessity of turning to God and of believing in Jesus our Lord.

²⁰ but I proceeded to preach first to the people in Damascus, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and to the Gentiles, that they must repent and turn to God, and live lives consistent with such repentance.

¹⁷ After one complete day he invited the leading men among the Jews to meet him; and, when they were come together, he said to them, "As for me, brethren, although I had done nothing prejudicial to our people or contrary to the customs of our forefathers, I was handed over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the power of the Romans.

²⁸ "Be fully assured, therefore, that this salvation--God's salvation--has now been sent to the Gentiles, and that they, at any rate, will give heed."

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is God's power which is at work for the salvation of every one who believes--the Jew first, and then the Gentile.

²⁹ Is God simply the God of the Jews, and not of the Gentiles also? He is certainly the God of the Gentiles also, ³⁰ unless you can deny that it is one and the same God who will pronounce the circumcised to be acquitted on the ground of faith, and the uncircumcised to be acquitted through the same faith.

⁹ This declaration of blessedness, then, does it come simply to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised as well? For ABRAHAM'S FAITH --so we affirm--WAS PLACED TO HIS CREDIT AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. ¹⁰ What then were the circumstances under which this took place? Was it after he had been circumcised, or before? ¹¹ Before, not after. And he received circumcision as a sign, a mark attesting the reality of the faith-righteousness which was his while still uncircumcised, that he might be the forefather of all those who believe even though they are uncircumcised--in order that this righteousness might be placed to their credit; 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.

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

⁸ My meaning is that Christ has become a servant to the people of Israel in vindication of God's truthfulness-- in showing how sure are the promises made to our forefathers-- ⁹ and that the Gentiles also have glorified God in acknowledgment of His mercy. So it is written, "FOR THIS REASON I WILL PRAISE THEE AMONG THE GENTILES, AND SING PSALMS IN HONOUR OF THY NAME."

¹⁵ You and I, though we are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, ¹⁶ know that it is not through obedience to Law that a man can be declared free from guilt, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. We have therefore believed in Christ Jesus, for the purpose of being declared free from guilt, through faith in Christ and not through obedience to Law. For through obedience to Law no human being shall be declared free from guilt.

²⁸ In Him the distinctions between Jew and Gentile, slave and free man, male and female, disappear; you are all one in Christ Jesus.

¹¹ Therefore, do not forget that formerly you were Gentiles as to your bodily condition. You were called the Uncircumcision by those who style themselves the Circumcised--their circumcision being one which the knife has effected. ¹² At that time you were living apart from Christ, estranged from the Commonwealth of Israel, with no share by birth in the Covenants which are based on the Promises, and you had no hope and no God, in all the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were so far away have been brought near through the death of Christ. ¹⁴ For He is our peace--He who has made Jews and Gentiles one, and in His own human nature has broken down the hostile dividing wall, ¹⁵ by setting aside the Law with its commandments, expressed, as they were, in definite decrees. His design was to unite the two sections of humanity in Himself so as to form one new man, ¹⁶ thus effecting peace, and to reconcile Jews and Gentiles in one body to God, by means of His cross--slaying by it their mutual enmity. ¹⁷ So He came and proclaimed good news of peace to you who were so far away, and peace to those who were near;

¹¹ In that new creation there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free man, but Christ is everything and is in all of us.

⁶ A plain token of God's righteous judgement, I say, since it is a righteous thing for Him to requite with affliction those who are now afflicting you;

¹³ and if the house deserves it, the peace you invoke shall come upon it. If not, your peace shall return to you.

⁷⁹ Dawning on those who now dwell in the darkness and shadow of death--To direct our feet into the path of peace."

⁴⁸ and said to them, "Whoever for my sake receives this little child, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives Him who sent me. For the lowliest among you all--he is the greatest."

³⁷ Blessed are those servants, whom their Master when He comes shall find on the watch. I tell you in solemn truth, that He will tie an apron round Him, and will bid them recline at table while He comes and waits on them.

⁴² "O that at this time thou hadst known--yes even thou--what makes peace possible! But now it is hid from thine eyes.

¹⁴ When the time was come, and He had taken His place at table, and the Apostles with Him,

²⁶ If a man wishes to be my servant, let him follow me; and where I am, there too shall my servant be. If a man wishes to be my servant, the Father will honour him.

²⁷ Peace I leave with you: my own peace I give to you. It is not as the world gives its greetings that I give you peace. Let not your hearts be troubled or dismayed.

³³ "I have spoken all this to you in order that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction. But keep up your courage: *I* have won the victory over the world."

³⁵ but that in every nation those who fear Him and live good lives are acceptable to Him.

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;

⁹ coming upon the soul of every man and woman who deliberately does wrong--upon the Jew first, and then upon the Gentile;

¹ Standing then acquitted as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁶ Because for the mind to be given up to earthly things means death; but for it to be given up to spiritual things means Life and peace.

²¹ Or has not the potter rightful power over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for more honourable and another for less honourable uses?

¹⁷ For the Kingdom of God does not consist of eating and drinking, but of right conduct, peace and joy, through the Holy Spirit;

¹³ May God, the giver of hope, fill you with continual joy and peace because you trust in Him--so that you may have abundant hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only faith working through love.

²² The Spirit, on the other hand, brings a harvest of love, joy, peace; patience towards others, kindness, benevolence;

⁷ And then the peace of God, which transcends all our powers of thought, will be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in union with Christ Jesus.

²² You notice that his faith was co-operating with his actions, and that by his actions his faith was perfected;

¹³ Which of you is a wise and well-instructed man? Let him prove it by a right life with conduct guided by a wisely teachable spirit.

⁷ The sorrow comes in order that the testing of your faith--being more precious than that of gold, which perishes and yet is proved by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the re-appearing of Jesus Christ.

⁴ And then, when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the never-withering wreath of glory.

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.

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.

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak. "I clearly see," he said, "that God makes no distinctions between one man and another;

⁶ From those leaders I gained nothing new. Whether they were men of importance or not, matters nothing to me--God recognizes no external distinctions. To me, at any rate, the leaders imparted nothing new.

⁹ And you masters, act towards your slaves on the same principles, and refrain from threats. For you know that in Heaven there is One who is your Master as well as theirs, and that merely earthly distinctions there are none with Him.

²⁵ The man who perpetrates a wrong will find the wrong repaid to him; and with God there are no merely earthly distinctions.

¹⁷ And if you address as your Father Him who judges impartially in accordance with each man's actions, then spend in fear the time of your stay here on earth,

²² Only I tell you that it will be more endurable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of Judgement than for you.

²⁴ Only I tell you all, that it will be more endurable for the land of Sodom on the day of Judgement than for thee."

¹² "I tell you that it will be more endurable for Sodom on the great day than for that town. ¹³ "Alas for thee, Chorazin! Alas for thee, Bethsaida! For had the miracles been performed in Tyre and Sidon which have been performed in you, long ere now they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ However, for Tyre and Sidon it will be more endurable at the Judgement than for you. ¹⁵ And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be lifted high as Heaven? Thou shalt be driven down as low as Hades.

¹¹ "You would have had no power whatever over me," replied Jesus, "had it not been granted you from above. On that account he who has delivered me up to you is more guilty than you are."

³⁰ Those times of ignorance God viewed with indulgence. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent, 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."

¹⁸ For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is angry: ¹⁹ because what may be known about Him is plain to their inmost consciousness; for He Himself has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For, from the very creation of the world, His invisible perfections--namely His eternal power and divine nature--have been rendered intelligible and clearly visible by His works, so that these men are without excuse. ²¹ For when they had come to know God, they did not give Him glory as God nor render Him thanks, but they became absorbed in useless discussions, and their senseless minds were darkened.

³² In short, though knowing full well the sentence which God pronounces against actions such as theirs, as things which deserve death, they not only practise them, but even encourage and applaud others who do them.

¹⁴ For when Gentiles who have no Law obey by natural instinct the commands of the Law, they, without having a Law, are a Law to themselves; 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-- ¹⁶ on the day when God will judge the secrets of men's lives by Jesus Christ, as declared in the Good News as I have taught it.

¹⁹ But it cannot be denied that all that the Law says is addressed to those who are living under the Law, in order that every mouth may be stopped, and that the whole world may await sentence from God. ²⁰ For on the ground of obedience to Law no man living will be declared righteous before Him. Law simply brings a sure knowledge of sin.

¹⁵ For the Law inflicts punishment; but where no Law exists, there can be no violation of Law.

⁷ What follows? Is the Law itself a sinful thing? No, indeed; on the contrary, unless I had been taught by the Law, I should have known nothing of sin as sin. For instance, I should not have known what covetousness is, if the Law had not repeatedly said, "THOU SHALT NOT COVET." ⁸ Sin took advantage of this, and by means of the Commandment stirred up within me every kind of coveting; for apart from Law sin would be dead. ⁹ Once, apart from Law, I was alive, but when the Commandment came, sin sprang into life, and I died; ¹⁰ and, as it turned out, the very Commandment which was to bring me life, brought me death. ¹¹ For sin seized the advantage, and by means of the Commandment it completely deceived me, and also put me to death.

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

²¹ to men without Law as if I were without Law--although I am not without Law in relation to God but am abiding in Christ's Law--in order to win those who are without Law.

⁷ If, however, the service that proclaims death--its code being engraved in writing upon stones--came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily on the face of Moses because of the brightness of his face--a vanishing brightness; ⁸ will not the service of the Spirit be far more glorious? ⁹ For if the service which pronounces doom had glory, far more glorious still is the service which tells of righteousness.

¹⁶ know that it is not through obedience to Law that a man can be declared free from guilt, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. We have therefore believed in Christ Jesus, for the purpose of being declared free from guilt, through faith in Christ and not through obedience to Law. For through obedience to Law no human being shall be declared free from guilt. ¹⁷ But if while we are seeking in Christ acquittal from guilt we ourselves are convicted of sin, Christ then encourages us to sin! No, indeed. ¹⁸ Why, if I am now rebuilding that structure of sin which I had demolished, I am thereby constituting myself a transgressor; ¹⁹ for it is by the Law that I have died to the Law, in order that I may live to God.

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

²² But Scripture has shown that all mankind are the prisoners of sin, in order that the promised blessing, which depends on faith in Jesus Christ, may be given to those who believe.

¹⁰ A man who has kept the Law as a whole, but has failed to keep some one command, has become guilty of violating all.

¹² And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing in front of the throne. And books were opened; and so was another book--namely, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged by the things recorded in the books in accordance with what their conduct had been. ¹³ Then the sea yielded up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades yielded up the dead who were in them, and each man was judged in accordance with what his conduct had been. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of fire; this is the Second Death--the Lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if any one's name was not found recorded in the Book of Life he was thrown into the Lake of fire.

²¹ "Not every one who says to me, 'Master, Master,' will enter the Kingdom of the Heavens, but only those who are obedient to my Father who is in Heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, "'Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name expelled demons, and in Thy name performed many mighty works?' ²³ "And then I will tell them plainly, "'I never knew you: begone from me, you doers of wickedness.' ²⁴ "Every one who hears these my teachings and acts upon them will be found to resemble a wise man who builds his house upon rock; ²⁵ and the heavy rain falls, the swollen torrents come, and the winds blow and beat against the house; yet it does not fall, for its foundation is on rock. ²⁶ And every one who hears these my teachings and does not act upon them will be found to resemble a fool who builds his house upon sand. ²⁷ The heavy rain descends, the swollen torrents come, and the winds blow and burst upon the house, and it falls; and disastrous is the fall."

²¹ "My mother and my brothers," He replied, "are these who hear God's Message and obey it."

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?" ²⁶ "Go to the Law," said Jesus; "what is written there? how does it read?" ²⁷ "'THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD,'" he replied, "'WITH THY WHOLE HEART, THY WHOLE SOUL, THY WHOLE STRENGTH, AND THY WHOLE MIND; AND THY FELLOW MAN AS MUCH AS THYSELF.'" ²⁸ "A right answer," said Jesus; "do that, and you shall live." ²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said, "But what is meant by my 'fellow man'?"

¹⁴ "I tell you that this man went home more thoroughly absolved from guilt than the other; for every one who uplifts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

³⁹ and in Him every believer is absolved from all offences, from which you could not be absolved under the Law of Moses.

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.

²⁰ For on the ground of obedience to Law no man living will be declared righteous before Him. Law simply brings a sure knowledge of sin.

²³ for all alike have sinned, and all consciously come short of the glory of God,

³⁰ unless you can deny that it is one and the same God who will pronounce the circumcised to be acquitted on the ground of faith, and the uncircumcised to be acquitted through the same faith.

² For if he was held to be righteous on the ground of his actions, he has something to boast of; but not in the presence of God. ³ For what says the Scripture? "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND THIS WAS PLACED TO HIS CREDIT AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." ⁴ But in the case of a man who works, pay is not reckoned a favour but a debt; ⁵ whereas in the case of a man who pleads no actions of his own, but simply believes in Him who declares the ungodly free from guilt, his faith is placed to his credit as righteousness.

⁵ Moses says that he whose actions conform to the righteousness required by the Law shall live by that righteousness.

¹⁶ know that it is not through obedience to Law that a man can be declared free from guilt, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. We have therefore believed in Christ Jesus, for the purpose of being declared free from guilt, through faith in Christ and not through obedience to Law. For through obedience to Law no human being shall be declared free from guilt.

¹¹ It is evident, too, that no one can find acceptance with God simply by obeying the Law, because "THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH," ¹² and the Law has nothing to do with faith. It teaches that "HE WHO DOES THESE THINGS SHALL LIVE BY DOING THEM."

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

²² But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves. ²³ For if any one listens but does not obey, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own face in a mirror. ²⁴ Although he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and has immediately forgotten the sort of man he is. 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.

²¹ Was it, or was it not, because of his actions that he was declared to be righteous as the result of his having offered up his son Isaac upon the altar? 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. ²⁵ In the same way also was not the notorious sinner Rahab declared to be righteous because of her actions when she welcomed the spies and hurriedly helped them to escape another way?

²⁹ Since you know that He is righteous, be assured also that the man who habitually acts righteously is a child of His.

⁷ Dear children, let no one lead you astray. The man who acts righteously is righteous, just as He is righteous.

¹⁶ In times gone by He allowed all the nations to go their own ways;

³⁰ Those times of ignorance God viewed with indulgence. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent,

¹² For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned whilst living under the Law, will be judged by the Law.

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?

¹ What special privilege, then, has a Jew? Or what benefit is to be derived from circumcision? ² The privilege is great from every point of view. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God's truth.

¹⁴ Does not Nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonor to him,

¹² At that time you were living apart from Christ, estranged from the Commonwealth of Israel, with no share by birth in the Covenants which are based on the Promises, and you had no hope and no God, in all the world.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever wins respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovable, whatever is of good repute--if there is any virtue or anything deemed worthy of praise--cherish the thought of these things.

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.

¹ Then Paul, fixing a steady gaze on the Sanhedrin, said, "Brethren, it is with a perfectly clear conscience that I have discharged my duties before God up to this day."

¹⁶ This too is my own earnest endeavour--always to have a clear conscience in relation to God and man.

¹⁸ For God's anger is being revealed from Heaven against all impiety and against the iniquity of men who through iniquity suppress the truth. God is angry: ¹⁹ because what may be known about Him is plain to their inmost consciousness; for He Himself has made it plain to them.

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

¹² For the reason for our boasting is this--the testimony of our own conscience that it was in holiness and with pure motives before God, and in reliance not on worldly wisdom but on the gracious help of God, that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and above all in our relations with you.

¹¹ Therefore, because we realize how greatly the Lord is to be feared, we are endeavouring to win men over, and God recognizes what our motives are, and I hope that you, in your hearts, recognize them too.

² through the hypocrisy of men who teach falsely and have their own consciences seared as with a hot iron;

¹⁵ To the pure everything is pure; but to the polluted and unbelieving nothing is pure, but on the contrary their very minds and consciences are polluted.

¹⁹ And in this way we shall come to know that we are loyal to the truth, and shall satisfy our consciences in His presence ²⁰ in whatever matters our hearts condemn us--because God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have perfect confidence towards God;

³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then will He sit upon His glorious throne, ³² and all the nations will be gathered into His presence. And He will separate them from one another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and will make the sheep stand at His right hand, and the goats at His left.

¹⁷ There is nothing hidden, which shall not be openly seen; nor anything secret, which shall not be known and come into the light of day.

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.

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.

⁴² And He has commanded us to preach to the people and solemnly declare that this is He who has been appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

⁶ No indeed; for in that case how shall He judge all mankind?)

¹⁰ But you, why do you find fault with your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon your brother? We shall all stand before God to be judged; ¹¹ for it is written, "'AS I LIVE,' says the Lord, 'TO ME EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL MAKE CONFESSION TO GOD.'" ¹² So we see that every one of us will give account of himself to God.

²⁵ To Him who has it in His power to make you strong, as declared in the Good News which I am spreading, and the proclamation concerning Jesus Christ, in harmony with the unveiling of the Truth which in the periods of past Ages remained unuttered,

¹¹ For I must tell you, brethren, that the Good News which was proclaimed by me is not such as man approves of.

¹¹ and is not in accordance with the Good News of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

⁸ Never forget that Jesus Christ has risen from among the dead and is a descendant of David, as is declared in the Good News which I preach.

¹ I solemnly implore you, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is about to judge the living and the dead, and by His Appearing and His Kingship:

⁸ From this time onward there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who love the thought of His Appearing.

²⁷ And since it is reserved for all mankind once to die, and afterwards to be judged;

⁵ But they will have to give account to Him who stands ready to pronounce judgement on the living and the dead.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and One who was seated on it, from whose presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

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.

¹¹ And I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the Heavens, ¹² while the natural heirs of the Kingdom will be driven out into the darkness outside: there will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth."

²⁸ "A right answer," said Jesus; "do that, and you shall live."

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.

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?"

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'?"

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

²⁸ Then they railed at him, and said, "You are that man's disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this fellow we do not know where he comes from."

²³ You who make your boast in the Law, do you offend against its commands and so dishonour God?

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.

⁴ To them belongs recognition as God's sons, and they have His glorious Presence and the Covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the Temple service, and the ancient Promises. 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. ⁶ Not however that God's word has failed; for all who have sprung from Israel do not count as Israel, ⁷ nor because they are Abraham's true children. But the promise was "THROUGH ISAAC SHALL YOUR POSTERITY BE RECKONED."

³² And why? Because they were pursuing a righteousness which should arise not from faith, but from what they regarded as merit. They stuck their foot against the stone which lay in their way;

²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

¹⁵ You and I, though we are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners,

¹¹ Therefore, do not forget that formerly you were Gentiles as to your bodily condition. You were called the Uncircumcision by those who style themselves the Circumcised--their circumcision being one which the knife has effected.

³ For we are the true circumcision--we who render to God a spiritual worship and make our boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in outward ceremonies: ⁴ although I myself might have some excuse for confidence in outward ceremonies. If any one else claims a right to trust in them, far more may I: ⁵ circumcised, as I was, on the eighth day, a member of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew sprung from Hebrews; as to the Law a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church; as to the righteousness which comes through Law, blameless. ⁷ Yet all that was gain to me--for Christ's sake I have reckoned it loss.

⁹ Your sufferings I know, and your poverty--but you are rich--and the evil name given you by those who say that they themselves are Jews, and are not, but are Satan's synagogue.

¹ "To the minister of the Church at Sardis write as follows: "'This is what He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says. I know your doings--you are supposed to be alive, but in reality you are dead.

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.

⁴⁷ And that servant who has been told his Master's will and yet made no preparation and did not obey His will, will receive many lashes.

¹⁷ If you know all this, blessed are you if you act accordingly.

⁴ For all that was written of old has been written for our instruction, so that we may always have hope through the power of endurance and the encouragement which the Scriptures afford.

¹ Now as to things which have been sacrificed to idols. This is a subject which we already understand--because we all have knowledge of it. Knowledge, however, tends to make people conceited; it is love that builds us up. ² If any one imagines that he already possesses any true knowledge, he has as yet attained to no knowledge of the kind to which he ought to have attained;

¹⁰ so that you may be men of transparent character, and may be blameless, in preparation for the day of Christ,

²¹ but test all such, and retain hold of the good.

¹⁵ and that from infancy you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise to obtain salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ Every Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for convincing, for correction of error, and for instruction in right doing; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may himself be complete and may be perfectly equipped for every good work.

¹⁴ Such persons are mere babes. But solid food is for adults--that is, for those who through constant practice have their spiritual faculties carefully trained to distinguish good from evil.

¹⁷ If, however, a man knows what it is right to do and yet does not do it, he commits a sin.

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.

²³ but if your eyesight is bad, your whole body will be dark. If however the very light within you is darkness, how dense must the darkness be!

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind; and if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into some pit."

¹⁶ "Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, "'Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.' ¹⁷ "Blind fools! Why, which is greater? --the gold, or the Sanctuary which has made the gold holy? ¹⁸ And you say, "'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound by the oath.' ¹⁹ "You are blind! Why, which is greater? --the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy? ²⁰ He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it; ²¹ he who swears by the Sanctuary swears both by it and by Him who dwells in it; ²² and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. ²³ "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out the gnat while you gulp down the camel! 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.

¹⁵ In solemn truth I tell you that no one who does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will by any possibility enter it."

⁴⁶ "No mere man has ever spoken as this man speaks," said the officers. ⁴⁷ "Are *you* deluded too?" replied the Pharisees; ⁴⁸ "has any one of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this rabble who understand nothing about the Law are accursed!"

³⁴ "You," they replied, "were wholly begotten and born in sin, and do *you* teach *us*?" And they put him out of the synagogue.

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!"

¹⁸ that they may turn from darkness to light and from the obedience to Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified through faith in Me.'

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If any man imagines that he is wise, compared with the rest of you, with the wisdom of the present age, let him become "foolish" so that he may be wise.

¹⁰ We, for Christ's sake, are labeled as "foolish"; you, as Christians, are men of shrewd intelligence. We are mere weaklings: you are strong. You are in high repute: we are outcasts.

¹⁵ so that you may always prove yourselves to be blameless and spotless--irreproachable children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as heavenly lights in the world,

¹⁷ You say, I am rich, and have wealth stored up, and I stand in need of nothing; and you do not know that if there is a wretched creature it is *you* --pitiable, poor, blind, naked. ¹⁸ Therefore I counsel you to buy of Me gold refined in the fire that you may become rich, and white robes to put on, so as to hide your shameful nakedness, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes with, so that you may be able to see.

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.

¹ And as for myself, brethren, I found it impossible to speak to you as spiritual men. It had to be as to worldlings--mere babes in Christ.

¹³ Provide yourself with an outline of the sound teaching which you have heard from my lips, and be true to the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

⁵ and will keep up a make-believe of piety and yet live in defiance of its power. Turn away from people of this sort.

¹⁶ They profess to know God; but in their actions they disown Him, and are detestable and disobedient men, and for any good work are utterly useless.

¹³ By people who live on milk I mean those who are imperfectly acquainted with the teaching concerning righteousness.

² Thirst, like newly-born infants, for pure milk for the soul, that by it you may grow up to salvation;

¹³ "It is written," He said, "'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED THE HOUSE OF PRAYER', but you are making it A ROBBERS' CAVE."

³ Therefore do and observe everything that they command you; but do not imitate their lives, for though they tell others what to do, they do not do it themselves. ⁴ Heavy and cumbrous burdens they bind together and load men's shoulders with them, while as for themselves, not with one finger do they choose to lift them. ⁵ And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large, ⁶ and love the best seats at a dinner party or in the synagogues, ⁷ and like to be bowed to in places of public resort, and to be addressed by men as 'Rabbi.' ⁸ "As for you, do not accept the title of 'Rabbi,' for one alone is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no one on earth your Father, for One alone is your Father--the Heavenly Father. ¹⁰ And do not accept the name of 'leader,' for your Leader is one alone--the Christ. ¹¹ He who is the greatest among you shall be your servant; ¹² and one who exalts himself shall be abased, while one who abases himself shall be exalted. ¹³ "But alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you lock the door of the Kingdom of the Heavens against men; you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those to enter who are seeking to do so. ¹⁴ OMITTED TEXT ¹⁵ "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves. ¹⁶ "Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, "'Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.' ¹⁷ "Blind fools! Why, which is greater? --the gold, or the Sanctuary which has made the gold holy? ¹⁸ And you say, "'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound by the oath.' ¹⁹ "You are blind! Why, which is greater? --the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy? ²⁰ He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it; ²¹ he who swears by the Sanctuary swears both by it and by Him who dwells in it; ²² and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. ²³ "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out the gnat while you gulp down the camel! 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.

²³ "Doubtless," said He, "you will quote to me the proverb, 'Physician, cure yourself: all that we hear that you have done at Capernaum, do here also in your native place.'"

⁴⁶ "Alas too for you expounders of the Law!" replied Jesus, "for you load men with cumbrous burdens which you yourselves will not touch with one of your fingers.

²⁷ but I hit hard and straight at my own body and lead it off into slavery, lest possibly, after I have been a herald to others, I should myself be rejected.

¹³ For these very men do not really keep the Law of Moses, but they would have you receive circumcision in order that they may glory in *your* bodies.

¹ But as for you, you must speak in a manner that befits wholesome teaching. ² Exhort aged men to be temperate, grave, sober-minded, robust in their faith, their love and their patience. ³ In the same way exhort aged women to let their conduct be such as becomes consecrated persons. They must not be slanderers nor enslaved to wine-drinking. They must be teachers of what is right. ⁴ They should school the young women to be affectionate to their husbands and to their children, to be sober-minded, pure in their lives, ⁵ industrious in their homes, kind, submissive to their husbands, so that the Christian teaching may not be exposed to reproach. ⁶ In the same way exhort the younger men to be discreet, ⁷ and above all make your own life a pattern of right conduct, having in your teaching no taint of insincerity, but a serious tone,

³⁹ "Wicked and faithless generation!" He replied, "they clamour for a sign, but none shall be given to them except the sign of the Prophet Jonah.

⁴ A wicked and faithless generation are eager for a sign; but none shall be given to them except the sign of Jonah." and He left them and went away.

¹⁷ And He remonstrated with them. "Is it not written," He said, "'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED THE HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS?' But you have made it what it now is-- A ROBBERS' CAVE."

³⁷ For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.

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.

¹⁷ "Why do you ask me," He replied, "about what is good? There is only One who is truly good. But if you desire to enter into Life, keep the Commandments." ¹⁸ "Which Commandments?" he asked. Jesus answered, "'THOU SHALT NOT KILL;' 'THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY;' 'THOU SHALT NOT STEAL;' 'THOU SHALT NOT LIE IN GIVING EVIDENCE;' ¹⁹ 'HONOUR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER'; AND 'THOU SHALT LOVE THY FELLOW MAN AS MUCH AS THYSELF.'" ²⁰ "All of these," said the young man, "I have carefully kept. What do I still lack?"

¹¹ The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer.

¹⁷ And since you claim the name of Jew, and find rest and satisfaction in the Law, and make your boast in God,

² The privilege is great from every point of view. First of all, because the Jews were entrusted with God's truth.

⁴ To them belongs recognition as God's sons, and they have His glorious Presence and the Covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the Temple service, and the ancient Promises.

²² But prove yourselves obedient to the Message, and do not be mere hearers of it, imposing a delusion upon yourselves. ²³ For if any one listens but does not obey, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own face in a mirror. ²⁴ Although he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and has immediately forgotten the sort of man he is. 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. ²⁶ If a man thinks that he is scrupulously religious, although he is not curbing his tongue but is deceiving himself, his religious service is worthless. ²⁷ The religious service which is pure and stainless in the sight of our God and Father is to visit fatherless children and widowed women in their time of trouble, and to keep one's own self unspotted from the world.

¹⁶ But, as the case stands, it is in mere self-confidence that you boast: all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If, however, a man knows what it is right to do and yet does not do it, he commits a sin.

⁷ "Alas for the world because of causes of falling! They cannot but come, but alas for each man through whom they come!

¹⁴ I would therefore have the younger women marry, bear children, rule in domestic matters, and furnish the Adversary with no excuse for slander.

¹ Let all who are under the yoke of slavery hold their own masters to be deserving of honour, so that the name of God and the Christian teaching may not be spoken against.

⁵ industrious in their homes, kind, submissive to their husbands, so that the Christian teaching may not be exposed to reproach.

⁸ and healthy language which no one can censure, so that our opponents may feel ashamed at having nothing evil to say against us.

² And in their immoral ways they will have many eager disciples, through whom religion will be brought into disrepute.

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.

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.

³ I once more protest to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to obey the whole Law of Moses. ⁴ Christ has become nothing to any of you who are seeking acceptance with God through the Law: you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ *We* have not, for through the Spirit we wait with longing hope for an acceptance with God which is to come through faith. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only faith working through love.

¹⁵ For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only a renewed nature.

¹¹ Therefore, do not forget that formerly you were Gentiles as to your bodily condition. You were called the Uncircumcision by those who style themselves the Circumcised--their circumcision being one which the knife has effected. ¹² At that time you were living apart from Christ, estranged from the Commonwealth of Israel, with no share by birth in the Covenants which are based on the Promises, and you had no hope and no God, in all the world.

²⁸ "O woman," replied Jesus, "great is your faith: be it done to you as you desire." And from that moment her daughter was restored to health.

² He was religious and God-fearing--and so was every member of his household. He was also liberal in his charities to the people, and continually offered prayer to God. ³ About three o'clock one afternoon he had a vision, and distinctly saw an angel of God enter his house, who called him by name, saying, "Cornelius!" ⁴ Looking steadily at him, and being much alarmed, he said, "What do you want, Sir?" "Your prayers and charities," he replied, "have gone up and have been recorded before God.

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak. "I clearly see," he said, "that God makes no distinctions between one man and another; ³⁵ but that in every nation those who fear Him and live good lives are acceptable to Him.

³ "You went into the houses of men who are not Jews," they said, "and you ate with them." ⁴ Peter, however, explained the whole matter to them from the beginning. ⁵ "While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me. ⁶ Fixing my eyes on it, I examined it closely, and saw various kinds of quadrupeds, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, "'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.' ⁸ "'On no account, Lord,' I replied, 'for nothing unholy or impure has ever gone into my mouth.' ⁹ "But a voice answered, speaking a second time from the sky, "'What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy.' ¹⁰ "This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again out of sight. ¹¹ "Now at that very moment three men came to the house where we were, having been sent from Caesarea to find me. ¹² And the Spirit told me to accompany them without any misgivings. There also went with me these six brethren who are now present, and we reached the Centurion's house. ¹³ Then he described to us how he had seen the angel come and enter his house and say, "'Send to Jaffa and fetch Simon, surnamed Peter. ¹⁴ He will teach you truths by which you and all your family will be saved.'" ¹⁵ "And," said Peter, "no sooner had I begun to speak than the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He fell upon us at the first. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the Lord's words, how He used to say, "'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.' ¹⁷ "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, why, who was I to be able to thwart God?" ¹⁸ This statement of Peter's silenced his opponents. They extolled the goodness of God, and said, "So, then, to the Gentiles also God has given the repentance which leads to Life."

⁴ in order that in our case the requirements of the Law might be fully met. For our lives are regulated not by our earthly, but by our spiritual natures.

¹⁸ This is what I command in all the Churches. Was any one already circumcised when called? Let him not have recourse to the surgeons. Was any one uncircumcised when called? Let him remain uncircumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing: obedience to God's commandments is everything.

³ For we are the true circumcision--we who render to God a spiritual worship and make our boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in outward ceremonies:

¹¹ In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hand, when you threw off your sinful nature in true Christian circumcision;

¹⁵ "Let it be so on this occasion," Jesus replied; "for so we ought to fulfil every religious duty." Then he consented;

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. 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. ¹⁹ Whoever therefore breaks one of these least commandments and teaches others to break them, will be called the least in the Kingdom of the Heavens; but whoever practises them and teaches them, he will be acknowledged as great in the Kingdom of the Heavens. ²⁰ For I assure you that unless your righteousness greatly surpasses that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will certainly not find entrance into the Kingdom of the Heavens.

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.

²² After removing him, He raised up David to be their king, to whom He also bore witness when He said, "'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man I love, who will obey all My commands.'

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:

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.

⁶ But seeing that we have died to that which once held us in bondage, the Law has now no hold over us, so that we render a service which, instead of being old and formal, is new and spiritual. ⁷ What follows? Is the Law itself a sinful thing? No, indeed; on the contrary, unless I had been taught by the Law, I should have known nothing of sin as sin. For instance, I should not have known what covetousness is, if the Law had not repeatedly said, "THOU SHALT NOT COVET." ⁸ Sin took advantage of this, and by means of the Commandment stirred up within me every kind of coveting; for apart from Law sin would be dead.

¹⁰ Love avoids doing any wrong to one's fellow man, and is therefore complete obedience to Law.

⁶ It is He also who has made us competent to serve Him in connexion with a new Covenant, which is not a written code but a Spirit; for the written code inflicts death, but the Spirit gives Life.

¹⁴ For the entire Law has been obeyed when you have kept the single precept, which says, "YOU ARE TO LOVE YOUR FELLOW MAN EQUALLY WITH YOURSELF."

³ Through faith we understand that the worlds came into being, and still exist, at the command of God, so that what is seen does not owe its existence to that which is visible.

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

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.

⁶ Not however that God's word has failed; for all who have sprung from Israel do not count as Israel, ⁷ nor because they are Abraham's true children. But the promise was "THROUGH ISAAC SHALL YOUR POSTERITY BE RECKONED." ⁸ In other words, it is not the children by natural descent who count as God's children, but the children made such by the promise are regarded as Abraham's posterity.

²¹ And, corresponding to that figure, the water of baptism now saves you--not the washing off of material defilement, but the craving of a good conscience after God--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

³⁹ The Master however said to him, "Here we see how you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup or plate, while your secret hearts are full of greed and selfishness.

²¹ Nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' --for the Kingdom of God is within you."

⁵ "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. ⁶ Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished at my telling you, 'You must all be born anew.' ⁸ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So is it with every one who has been born of the Spirit."

²³ But a time is coming--nay, has already come--when the true worshippers will worship the Father with true spiritual worship; for indeed the Father desires such worshippers.

⁴³ For they loved the glory that comes from men rather than the glory that comes from God.

⁶ But seeing that we have died to that which once held us in bondage, the Law has now no hold over us, so that we render a service which, instead of being old and formal, is new and spiritual.

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

¹¹ In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hand, when you threw off your sinful nature in true Christian circumcision; ¹² having been buried with Him in your baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith produced within you by God who raised Him from among the dead.

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

⁴ Instead of that, it should be a new nature within--the imperishable ornament of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is indeed precious in the sight of God.