Then Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights and afterwards felt hungry. read more. So the tempter came up and said to him, "If you are God's son, tell these stones to become loaves." He answered, "It is written, Man is not to live on bread alone, but on every word that issues from the mouth of God." Then the devil conveyed him to the holy city and, placing him on the pinnacle of the temple, said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you; they will bear you on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone." Jesus said to him, "It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God." Once more the devil conveyed him to an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the realms of the world and their grandeur; he said, "I will give you all that if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus told him, "Begone, Satan! it is written, You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone." At this the devil left him, and angels came up and ministered to him.

So when he saw the crowds, he went up the hill and sat down; his disciples came up to him

So when he saw the crowds, he went up the hill and sat down; his disciples came up to him and he opened his lips and began to teach them. He said:

and he opened his lips and began to teach them. He said: "Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

"Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit! the Realm of heaven is theirs. Blessed are the mourners! they will be consoled.

Blessed are the mourners! they will be consoled. Blessed are the humble! they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are the humble! they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for goodness! they will be satisfied.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for goodness! they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful! they will find mercy.

Blessed are the merciful! they will find mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart! they will see God.

Blessed are the pure in heart! they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers! they will be ranked sons of God.

Blessed are the peacemakers! they will be ranked sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs. Blessed are you when men denounce you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you for my sake;

Blessed are you when men denounce you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you for my sake; rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you. You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes insipid, what can make it salt again? After that it is fit for nothing, fit only to be thrown outside and trodden by the feet of men. read more. You are the light of the world. A town on the top of a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp to put it under a bowl; they put it on a stand and it shines for all in the house. So your light is to shine before men, that they may see the good you do and glorify your Father in heaven. Do not imagine I have come to destroy the Law or the prophets; I have not come to destroy but to fulfil.

You have heard how the men of old were told, 'Murder not: whoever murders must come up for sentence,

You have heard how the men of old were told, 'Murder not: whoever murders must come up for sentence, whoever maligns his brother must come before the San hedrin, whoever curses his brother must go to the fire of Gehenna.' But I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother [without cause] will be sentenced by God. read more. So if you remember, even when offering your gift at the altar, that your brother has any grievance against you, leave your gift at the very altar and go away; first be reconciled to your brother, then come back and offer your gift.

You have heard how it used to be said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, any one who even looks with lust at a woman has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

You have heard the saying, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, you are not to resist an injury: whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well;

Take care not to practise your charity before men in order to be noticed; otherwise you get no reward from your Father in heaven. No,

so as to keep your alms secret; then your Father who sees what is secret will reward you openly.

When you pray, go into your room and shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, then your heavenly Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men, your Father will not forgive your trespasses either.

so that your fast may be seen not by men but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

Now, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts upon them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. The rain came down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, for it was founded on rock. read more. And everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and down it fell ??with a mighty crash."

Which is the easier thing, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But to let you see the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins" ??he then said to the paralytic, "Get up, lift your pallet, and go home."

He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me: he who will not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. read more. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

I tell you truly, no one has arisen among the sons of women who is greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the Realm of heaven is greater than he is.

You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For the mouth utters what the heart is full of. The good man brings good out of his good store, and the evil man brings evil out of his store of evil.

I tell you truly, many prophets and good men have longed to see what you see, but they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it.

So he said to them, "Well then, every scribe who has become a disciple of the Realm of heaven is like a householder who produces what is new and what is old from his stores."

That is why the Realm of heaven may be compared to a king who resolved to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the settlement, a debtor was brought in who owed him three million pounds; read more. as he was unable to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he had, in payment of the sum. So the servant fell down and prayed him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you it all.' And out of pity for that servant his master released him and discharged his debt. But as that servant went away, he met one of his fellow-servants who owed him twenty pounds, and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay your debt!' So his fellow-servant fell down and implored him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' But he refused; he went and had him thrown into prison, till he should pay the debt. Now when his fellow-servants saw what had happened they were greatly distressed, and they went and explained to their master all that had happened. Then his master summoned him and said, 'You scoundrel of a servant! I discharged all that debt for you, because you implored me. Ought you not to have had mercy on your fellow-servant, as I had on you?' And in hot anger his master handed him over to the torturers, till he should pay him all the debt. My heavenly Father will do the same to you unless you each forgive your brother from the heart."

Besides, all they do is done to catch the notice of men; they make their phylacteries broad, they wear large tassels,

Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you are like tombs white-washed; they look comely on the outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all manner of impurity.

Then he will say to those on the left, 'Begone from me, you accursed ones, to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry but you never fed me, I was thirsty but you never gave me drink, read more. I was a stranger but you never entertained me, I was unclothed but you never clothed me, I was ill and in prison but you never looked after me.' Then they will answer too, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or unclothed or ill or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, 'I tell you truly, in so far as you did not do it to one of these, even the least of them, you did not do it to me.'

and teach them to obey all the commands I have laid on you. And I will be with you all the time, to the very end of the world."

So when some scribes of the Pharisees saw he was eating with sinners and taxgatherers they said to his disciples, "Why does he eat and drink with taxgatherers and sinners?" On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "Those who are strong have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill: I have not come to call just men but sinners."

No one stitches a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, otherwise the patch breaks away, the new from the old, and the tear is made worse: no one pours fresh wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wine will burst the wineskins, and both wine and wineskins are ruined."

They noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with 'common' (that is, unwashed) hands. (The Pharisees and all the Jews decline to eat till they wash their hands up to the wrist, in obedience to the tradition of the elders; read more. they decline to eat what comes from the market till they have washed it; and they have a number of other traditions to keep about washing cups and jugs and basins [and beds].) Then the Pharisees and scribes put this question to him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? Why do they take their food with 'common' hands?" He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites ??as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts. You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition.

He said to them, "So you do not understand, either? Do you not see how nothing outside a man can defile him by entering him? It does not enter his heart but his belly and passes from that into the drain" (thus he pronounced all food clean). read more. "No," he said, "it is what comes from a man, that is what defiles him. From within, from the heart of man, the designs of evil come: sexual vice, stealing, murder,

From within, from the heart of man, the designs of evil come: sexual vice, stealing, murder, adultery, lust, malice, deceit, sensuality, envying, slander, arrogance, recklessness,

adultery, lust, malice, deceit, sensuality, envying, slander, arrogance, recklessness, all these evils issue from within and they defile a man."

Now some Pharisees came up and asked him if a man was allowed to divorce his wife. This was to tempt him. So he replied, "What did Moses lay down for you?" read more. They said, "Moses permitted a man to divorce her by writing out a separation notice." Jesus said to them, "He wrote you that command on account of the hardness of your hearts. But from the beginning, when God created the world, Male and female, He created them: hence a man shall leave his father and mother, and the pair shall be one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has joined, then, man must not separate."

They came up and said to him, "Teacher, we know you are sincere and fearless; you do not court human favour, you teach the Way of God honestly. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Are we to pay, or are we not to pay?" But he saw their trick and said to them, "Why tempt me? Bring me a shilling. Let me see it." read more. So they brought one. He said, "Whose likeness, whose inscription is this?" "Caesar's," they said. Jesus said to them, "Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God." He astonished them.

At sunset all who had any people ill with any sort of disease brought them to him; he laid his hands on everyone and healed them.

Then the corpse sat up and began to speak; and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Therefore I tell you, many as her sins are, they are forgiven, for her love is great; whereas he to whom little is forgiven has but little love."

He said to another man, "Follow me"; but he said, "Let me go and bury my father first of all." Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; you go and spread the news of the Reign of God."

Woe to you, Khorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! Had the miracles performed in you been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have been sitting penitent in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. read more. And you, O Capharnahum! Exalted to heaven? No, you will sink to Hades! He who listens to you listens to me, he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

Now a jurist got up to tempt him. "Teacher," he said, "what am I to do to inherit life eternal?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" read more. He replied, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole strength, and with your whole mind. Also your neighbour as yourself." "A right answer!" said Jesus; "do that and you will live." Anxious to make an excuse for himself, however, he said to Jesus, "But who is my neighbour?" Jesus rejoined, "A man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among robbers who stripped and belaboured him and then went off leaving him half-dead. Now it so chanced that a priest was going down the same road, but on seeing him he went past on the opposite side. So did a Levite who came to the spot; he looked at him but passed on the opposite side. However a Samaritan traveller came to where he was and felt pity when he saw him; he went to him, bound his wounds up, pouring oil and wine into them, mounted him on his own steed, took him to an inn, and attended to him. Next morning he took out a couple of shillings and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Attend to him, and if you are put to any extra expense I will refund you on my way back.' Which of these three men, in your opinion, proved a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The man who took pity on him." Jesus said to him, "Then go and do the same."

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, aye and his own life, he cannot be a disciple of mine; whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me, he cannot be a disciple of mine.

"Which of you with a hundred sheep, if he loses one, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one till he finds it? When he finds it he puts it on his shoulders with joy, read more. and when he gets home he gathers his friends and neighbours: 'Rejoice with me,' he says to them, 'for I have found the sheep I lost.' So, I tell you, there will be joy in heaven over a single sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine good people who do not need to repent.

So he told them, "You are the people who get men to think you are good, but God knows what your hearts are! What is lofty in the view of man is loathsome in the eyes of God.

There was a rich man, clad in purple and fine linen, who lived sumptuously every day. Outside his door lay a poor man called Lazarus; he was a mass of ulcers, read more. and fain to eat up the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. (The very dogs used to come and lick his ulcers.) Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man died too, and was buried. And as he was being tortured in Hades he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his bosom; so he called out, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me, send Lazarus to dip his fingertip in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in these flames.' But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, you got all the bliss when you were alive, just as Lazarus got the ills of life; he is in comfort now, and you are in anguish. Besides all that, a great gulf yawns between us and you, to keep back those who want to cross from us to you and also those who want to pass from you to us.' Then he said, 'Well, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers; let him bear testimony to them, that they may not come to this place of torture as well.' 'They have got Moses and the prophets,' said Abraham, 'they can listen to them.' 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone only goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, not even if one rose from the dead."

"Two men went up to pray in the temple; one was a Pharisee and the other was a taxgatherer. The Pharisee stood up and prayed by himself as follows; 'I thank thee, O God, I am not like the rest of men, thieves, rogues, and immoral, or even like yon taxgatherer. read more. Twice a week I fast; on all my income I pay tithes.' But the taxgatherer stood far away and would not lift even his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'O God, have mercy on me for my sins!' I tell you, he went home accepted by God rather than the other man; for everyone who uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

So Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, "I will give the half of all I have, Lord, to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will give him back four times as much." And Jesus said of him, "To-day salvation has come to this house, since Zacchaeus here is a son of Abraham.

And he added, "Jesus, do not forget me when you come to reign."

And when all the crowds who had collected for the sight saw what had happened, they turned away beating their breasts.

through him all existence came into being, no existence came into being apart from him. In him life lay, and this life was the Light for men:

while the Law was given through Moses, grace and reality are ours through Jesus Christ.

Next day again John was standing with two of his disciples;

Jesus replied, "Truly, truly I tell you, no one can see God's Realm unless he is born from above."

What is born of the flesh is flesh: what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

For God loved the world so dearly that he gave up his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life, instead of perishing.

He who believes in him is not sentenced; he who will not believe is sentenced already, for having refused to believe in the name of the only Son of God.

But the time is coming, it has come already, when the real worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in reality; for these are the worshippers that the Father wants.

So I told you, you would die in your sins; for unless you believe who I am, you will die in your sins."

So, if the Son sets you free, you will be really free.

Which of you can convict me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?

I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me

You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right: that is what I am.

I give you a new command, to love one another ??as I have loved you, you are to love one another.

And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am.

A little while longer and the world will see me no more; but you will see me, because I am living and you will be living too.

[Chapters he cuts away any branch on me which is not bearing fruit, and cleans every branch which does bear fruit, to make it bear richer fruit. read more. You are already clean, by the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you: just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, without remaining on the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me, as I in him, bears rich fruit (because apart from me you can do nothing). If anyone does not remain in me he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers up; then the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire to be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then ask whatever you like and you shall have it. As you bear rich fruit and prove yourselves my disciples, my Father is glorified. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; remain within my love. If you keep my commands you will remain within my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain within his love.

They would not be guilty, if I had not come and spoken to them; but, as it is, they have no excuse for their sin ??23 he who hates me hates my Father also.

They would not be guilty, if I had not done deeds among them such as no one has ever done; but, as it is, they have seen ??and they have hated ??both me and my Father.

They will excommunicate you; indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will imagine he is performing a service to God.

And when he comes, he will convict the world, convincing men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment:

And when he comes, he will convict the world, convincing men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me;

I have said all this to you that in me you may have peace; in the world you have trouble, but courage! I have conquered the world.

I have glorified thee on earth by accomplishing the work thou gavest me to do;

Father, it is my will that these, thy gift to me, may be beside me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me, because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy of suffering dishonour for the sake of the Name;

(As yet it had not fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

After bearing their testimony to the word of the Lord and preaching it, the apostles went back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to a number of the Samaritan villages; but an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south, along the road from Jerusalem to Gaza" (the desert-route). read more. So he got up and went on his way. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians (he was her chief treasurer), who had come to Jerusalem for worship and was on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join that chariot." When Philip ran up, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. "Do you really understand what you are reading?" he asked. "Why, how can I possibly understand it," said the eunuch, "unless some one puts me on the right track?" And he begged Philip to get up and sit beside him. Now the passage of scripture which he was reading was as follows: ??he was led like a sheep to be slaughtered, and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so he opens not his lips. By humbling himself he had his doom removed. Who can tell his family? For his life is cut off from the earth. So the eunuch said to Philip, "Pray, who is the prophet speaking about? Is it himself or someone else?" Then Philip opened his lips, and starting from this scripture preached the gospel of Jesus to him. As they travelled on, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Here is water! What is to prevent me being baptized?" -- So he ordered the chariot to stop. Both of them stepped into the water, and Philip baptized the eunuch. When they came up from the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch lost sight of him. He went on his way rejoicing,

Peter was just going into the house when Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshipped him; but Peter raised him, saying, "Get up, I am only a man myself."

PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

He is no Jew who is merely a Jew outwardly, nor is circumcision something outward in the flesh; he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual not literal ??praised by God, not by man.

Then 'by this faith' we 'cancel the Law'? Not for one moment! We uphold the Law.

As we are justified by faith, then, let us enjoy the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have got access to this grace where we have our standing, and triumph in the hope of God's glory.

Why, a man will hardly die for the just ??though one might bring oneself to die, if need be, for a good man. But God proves his love for us by this, that Christ died for us when we were still sinners.

The Law is spiritual; we know that. But then I am a creature of the flesh, in the thraldom of sin.

the law of the Spirit brings the life which is in Christ Jesus, and that law has set me free from the law of sin and death.

But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells within you. Anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.

For he decreed of old that those whom he predestined should share the likeness of his Son ??that he might be the firstborn of a great brotherhood.

No, in all this we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am certain neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, read more. no powers of the Height or of the Depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to part us from God's love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Every subject must obey the government-authorities, for no authority exists apart from God; the existing authorities have been constituted by God. Hence anyone who resists authority is opposing the divine order, and the opposition will bring judgment on themselves. read more. Magistrates are no terror to an honest man, though they are to a bad man. If you want to avoid being alarmed at the government-authorities, lead an honest life and you will be commended for it; the magistrate is God's servant for your benefit. But if you do wrong, you may well be alarmed; a magistrate does not wield the power of the sword for nothing, he is God's servant for the infliction of divine vengeance upon evil-doers. You must be obedient, therefore, not only to avoid the divine vengeance but as a matter of conscience, for the same reason as you pay taxes ??since magistrates are God's officers, bent upon the maintenance of order and authority. Pay them all their respective dues, tribute to one, taxes to another, respect to this man, honour to that.

Who are you to criticize the servant of Another? It is for his Master to say whether he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Master has power to make him stand.

(It is Christ Jesus as Lord, not myself, that I proclaim; I am simply a servant of yours for Jesus' sake.)

for we have all to appear without disguise before the tribunal of Christ, each to be requited for what he has done with his body, well or ill.

(You know how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich though he was, he became poor for the sake of you, that by his poverty you might be rich.)

Now the deeds of the flesh are quite obvious, such as sexual vice, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, magic, quarrels, dissension, jealousy, temper, rivalry, factions, party-spirit, read more. envy, [murder], drinking bouts, revelry, and the like; I tell you beforehand as I have told you already, that people who indulge in such practices will never inherit the Realm of God. But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, good temper, kindliness, generosity, fidelity,

But the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, good temper, kindliness, generosity, fidelity, gentleness, self-control: ??there is no law against those who practise such things.

gentleness, self-control: ??there is no law against those who practise such things.

Even if anyone is detected in some trespass, brothers, you are spiritual, you must set the offender right in a spirit of gentleness; let each of you look to himself, in case he too is tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

For everyone will have to bear his own load of responsibility.

And as with us so with you. You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you moved as you followed the course of this world, under the sway of the prince of the air ??the spirit which is at present active within those sons of disobedience read more. among whom all of us lived, we as well as you, when we obeyed the passions of our flesh, carrying out the dictates of the flesh and its impulses, when we were objects of God's anger by nature, like the rest of men. But, dead in trespasses as we were, God was so rich in mercy that for his great love to us he made us live together with Christ (it is by grace you have been saved); together with Christ he raised and seated us within the heavenly sphere in Christ Jesus, to display throughout ages to come his surpassing wealth of grace and goodness toward us in Christ Jesus.

in his own flesh he put an end to the feud of the Law with its code of commands, so as to make peace by the creation of a new Man in himself out of both parties,

Let the thief steal no more; rather let him work and put his hands to an honest task, so as to have something to contribute to the needy. Let no bad word pass your lips, but only such speech as is good for edification, as occasion may require, words that are gracious and a means of grace to those who hear them.

Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord,

And as for you masters, act by your servants in the same way, and stop threatening them; be sure that they and you have a Lord and Master in heaven, and there is no partiality about him.

For on behalf of Christ you have the favour of suffering no less than of believing in him,

Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have been obedient always and not simply when I was present, so, now that I am absent, work all the more strenuously at your salvation with reverence and trembling, for it is God who in his goodwill enables you to will this and to achieve it.

indeed I count anything a loss, compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything (I count it all the veriest refuse) in order to gain Christ and be found at death in him, possessing no legal righteousness of my own but the righteousness of faith in Christ, the divine righteousness that rests on faith. read more. I would know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, with my nature transformed to die as he died, to see if I too can attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained this or am already perfect, but I press forward to appropriate it, because I have been appropriated myself by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I for one do not consider myself to have appropriated this; my one thought is, by forgetting what lies behind me and straining to what lies before me, to press on to the goal for the prize of God's high call in Christ Jesus.

This is the Christ we proclaim; we train everyone and teach everyone the full scope of this knowledge, in order to set everyone before God mature in Christ;

Since then you have been raised with Christ, aim at what is above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; mind what is above, not what is on earth, read more. for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you will appear with him in glory. So put to death those members that are on earth: sexual vice, impurity, appetite, evil desire, and lust (which is idolatry), things that bring down the anger of God on the sons of disobedience. Once you moved among them, when you lived in them; but off with them all now, off with anger, rage, malice, slander, foul talk! Tell no lies to one another; you have stripped off the old nature with its practices,

As God's own chosen, then, as consecrated and beloved, be clothed with compassion, kindliness, humility, gentleness, and good temper ??13 forbear and forgive each other in any case of complaint; as Christ forgave you, so must you forgive.

And above all you must be loving, for love is the link of the perfect life. Also, let the peace of Christ be supreme within your hearts ??that is why you have been called as members of the one Body. And you must be thankful. read more. Let the inspiration of Christ dwell in your midst with all its wealth of wisdom; teach and train one another with the music of psalms, with hymns, and songs of the spiritual life; praise God with thankful hearts. Indeed, whatever you say or do, let everything be done in dependence on the Lord Jesus, giving thanks in his name to God the Father. Wives, be subject to your husbands; that is your proper duty in the Lord.

Masters, treat your servants justly and fairly; remember you have a Master of your own in heaven.

and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only comrades in the work of God's realm, belonging to the circumcised, who have been any comfort to me.

You must instruct people in what is due to sound doctrine. Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, masters of themselves, sound in faith, in love, and in stedfastness.

and it schools us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions and to live a life of self-mastery, of integrity, and of piety in this present world,

and it schools us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions and to live a life of self-mastery, of integrity, and of piety in this present world, awaiting the blessed hope of the appearance of the Glory of the great God and of our Saviour Christ Jesus, read more. who gave himself up for us to redeem us from all iniquity and secure himself a clean people with a zest for good works.

how shall we escape the penalty for neglecting a salvation which was originally proclaimed by the Lord himself and guaranteed to us by those who heard him,

For sanctifier and sanctified have all one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, 'I will proclaim thy name to my brothers, in the midst of the church I will sing of thee,' read more. and again, 'I will put my trust in him,' and again, 'Here am I and the children God has given me.' Since the children then share blood and flesh, he himself participated in their nature, so that by dying he might crush him who wields the power of death (that is to say, the devil) and release from thraldom those who lay under a life-long fear of death. (For of course it is not angels that he succours, it is the offspring of Abraham.) He had to resemble his brothers in every respect, in order to prove a merciful and faithful high priest in things divine, to expiate the sins of the People. It is as he suffered by his temptations that he is able to help the tempted.

for ours is no high priest who is incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every respect like ourselves, yet without sinning.

For in the case of people who have been once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly Gift, who participated in the holy Spirit, who tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the world to come, and then fell away ??6 it is impossible to make them repent afresh, since they crucify the Son of God in their own persons and hold him up to obloquy.

For land which absorbs the rain that often falls on it, and bears plants that are useful to those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God; whereas, if it produces thorns and thistles, it is reprobate and on the verge of being cursed ??its fate is to be burned.

containing the golden altar of incense, and also the ark of the covenant covered all over with gold, which held the golden pot of manna, the rod of Aaron that once blossomed, and the tablets of the covenant;

by the fresh, living way which he has inaugurated for us through the veil (that is, through his flesh),

For if we sin deliberately, after receiving the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left,

Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle of suffering, partly by being held up yourselves to obloquy and anguish, partly by making common cause with those who fared in this way; read more. for you did sympathize with the prisoners, and you took the confiscation of your own belongings cheerfully, conscious that elsewhere you had higher, you had lasting, possessions.

Do not forget beneficence and charity, either; these are the kind of sacrifices that are acceptable to God.

James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: greeting.

It was his own will that we should be born by the Word of the truth, to be a kind of firstfruits among his creatures.

Pure, unsoiled religion in the judgment of God the Father means this: to care for orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself from the stain of the world.

Everyone who believes Jesus is the Christ, is born of God; and everyone who loves the Father, loves the sons born of him.

Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches: 'The conqueror I will allow to share the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, unknown to any except him who receives it.'

'As for the conqueror, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God (nevermore shall he leave it), and I will inscribe on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God), and my own new name.'

singing a new song: "Thou deservest to take the scroll and open its seals, for thou wast slain and by shedding thy blood hast ransomed for God men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation;

they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

I John saw and heard all this; and when I heard and saw it, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me it all. & 10] And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and genuine, for the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has sent his angel to show his servants what must very soon come to pass.

But he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a servant like yourself and your brothers the prophets, who lay to heart the words of this book. Worship God."