Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
. . .
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.
I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
Then I bowed down and worshiped the LORD; and I blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right road to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.
“Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?”
They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance.
What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”
And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!”
So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them.
Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention.
But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
. . .
On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.
But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
To this end, we always pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of His calling, and that He will powerfully fulfill your every good desire and work of faith,
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers,
not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Do you not remember that I told you these things while I was still with you?
. . .
There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
. . .
When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,
crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”
For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil.
After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and drew away people after him. He too perished, and all his followers were scattered.
I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you?
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am.
So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
After Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where they entered a garden.
Now Judas His betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with His disciples.
So Judas brought a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. They arrived at the garden carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon Him, stepped forward and asked them, “Whom are you seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. Jesus said, “I am He.” And Judas His betrayer was standing there with them.
. . .
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.
On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”
Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints.
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
. . .
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron.
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
. . .
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.
This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
And everyone went to his own town to register.
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.
This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.
He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.
. . .
Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.
“Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said,
. . .
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me?
Show Me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought Him a denarius.
“Whose image is this,” He asked, “and whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they answered. So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.
They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.
When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.
“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
. . .
Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away?
The lion mauled enough for its cubs and strangled prey for the lioness. It filled its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.
What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.
. . .