Then Jesus was guided by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He at last felt hungry. read more. And the tempter came up and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn to bread." But he answered, "The Scripture says, 'Not on bread alone can man live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took Him into the holy city, and had Him stand on the tip-top turret of the temple, and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says: "'He will give His angels directions about you, And they will bear you up on their hands, so you will never strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again the Scripture says, 'You must not try the Lord your God.'" Again the devil took him up on a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their splendor, and said to Him, "Every bit of this I will give to you, if you will fall on your knees and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.'" Then the devil left Him, and angels came and continued to wait upon Him.

When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain. After He had taken His seat, His disciples came up to Him.

When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain. After He had taken His seat, His disciples came up to Him. Then He opened His mouth and continued to teach them as follows:

Then He opened His mouth and continued to teach them as follows: "Blessed are those who feel poor in spiritual things, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

"Blessed are those who feel poor in spiritual things, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. "Blessed are the mourners, for they will be comforted.

"Blessed are the mourners, for they will be comforted. "Blessed are the lowly in mind, for they will possess the land.

"Blessed are the lowly in mind, for they will possess the land. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for being and doing right, for they will be completely satisfied.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for being and doing right, for they will be completely satisfied. "Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will have mercy shown them.

"Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will have mercy shown them. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called God's sons.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called God's sons. "Blessed are those who suffer persecution for being and doing right, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

"Blessed are those who suffer persecution for being and doing right, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

"Blessed are those who suffer persecution for being and doing right, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. "Blessed are you when people abuse you, and persecute you, and keep on falsely telling all sorts of evil against you for my sake.

"Blessed are you when people abuse you, and persecute you, and keep on falsely telling all sorts of evil against you for my sake. Keep on rejoicing and leaping for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you.

Keep on rejoicing and leaping for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you. "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its strength, what can make it salt again? It is good for nothing but to be thrown away and trodden under foot. read more. You are the light of the world. A city that is built upon a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a peck-measure but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light shine before people in such a way that they may see your good deeds, and praise your Father in heaven. "Do not suppose that I have come to set aside the law or the prophets.

"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will have to answer to the court.'

"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will have to answer to the court.' But I say to you: "Everyone who harbors malice against his brother, will have to answer to the court, and whoever speaks contemptuously to his brother, will have to answer to the supreme court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You cursed fool? will have to pay the penalty in the pit of torture. read more. So if, in the very act of presenting your gift at the altar, you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your grit right there at the altar, and first go and make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your gift.

"You have heard it was said, 'You must not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman so as to have an evil desire for her at once has already committed adultery with her in his heart,

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist the one who injures you, but if anyone slaps you on one cheek, turn him the other, too;

"Take care not to do your good deeds in public, to attract the attention of people; if you do, you will get no reward from your Father in heaven.

so that your deed of charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

But whenever you, follower of mine, pray, you must go to your most private place, shut the door, and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

"For if you forgive others their shortcomings your heavenly Father will forgive you, too. But if you do not forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive your shortcomings either.

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

"So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation. And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, for its pillars had been laid on a rocky foundation. read more. And anyone who listens to my words and does not practice their teaching, will be like an imprudent man who built his house on sand. And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed, and the wreck of it was complete."

For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or, to say 'Get up and go to walking'? But to show you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" -- turning to the paralyzed man, He said to Him -- "Get up, pick up your bed, and go home."

Anybody who loves father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me, and nobody is worthy of me who does not take up his cross and follow me. read more. Anybody who gains his lower life will lose the higher life, and anybody who loses his lower life for my sake will gain the higher life.

"I solemnly say to you, of all men born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has ever appeared; and yet the one who is least important in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

You brood of vipers! How can you, wicked as you are, say anything that is good? For the mouth talks about the things that fill the heart. The good man out of his good inner storehouse, brings out good things, the bad man, out of his bad one, bad things.

For I solemnly say to you, many prophets and upright men yearned to see what you are seeing, and did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing, and did not hear it.

to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in stories, I will utter truths concealed since creation."

He said to them, "Every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who can bring out of his storeroom new furnishings as well as old."

So the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle up his accounts with his slaves, And when he began, a man was brought to him who owed him ten million dollars. read more. And because he could not pay it, his master ordered him to be sold, yea, even his wife and children and all he had, and payment to be made. So the slave fell down at his feet and pleaded, 'Give me time, and I will pay you every cent of it.' And his master's heart was moved with pity, and he let the slave go free with his debt cancelled. "But that slave went out and found one of his fellow-slaves who owed him twenty dollars, and he caught him by the throat and began to choke him, demanding, 'Pay me what you owe me!' "And his fellow-slave fell down before him and pleaded, 'Give me time, and I will pay you.' But he refused and went out and had him put in jail until he should pay the debt. "When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly troubled, and went and reported all that happened to their master. Then his master called to him, and said, 'I cancelled all that huge debt of yours, because you pleaded with me to do so. Ought you not to have shown mercy to your fellow-slave, as I too had done for you?' And the master was enraged and turned him over to the official torturers, until he should pay the whole debt. This is the way my heavenly Father too will deal with you, if you do not, each one, heartily forgive your brother."

They do what they do to attract people's attention. They wear on their coats Scripture texts in big letters, and they wear large tassels,

"A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead people's bones and everything that is unclean!

"Then He will say to those at His left, 'Be gone from me, you who are now cursed, to the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For when I was hungry you gave me nothing to eat, when I was thirsty you gave me nothing to drink, read more. when I was a stranger you did not welcome me to your homes, when I needed clothes you did not put them on me, when I was sick and in prison, you did not look after me.' Then they will answer, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or needing clothes, or sick, or in prison, and did not wait on you?' Then He will answer, 'I solemnly say to you, every time you failed to do a good deed to one of these most insignificant people, you failed to do a good deed to me.'

and teach them to practice all the commands that I have given you. And I myself will surely be with you all the days, down to the very close of an age."

And when the scribes who belonged to the Pharisees' party saw that He was eating with notorious sinners and tax-collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why does He eat with tax-collectors and notorious sinners?" Jesus heard it, and said to them, "Not well but sick people have to send for the doctor. It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite."

No one sews a patch of brand-new goods on an old coat; or, if he does, the patch tears away, the new from the old, and the hole becomes bigger than ever. No one puts new wine into old wine-bottles, or, if he does, the wine will break the bottles, and the wine is lost, and the bottles too. New wine is to be put up in new bottles."

They had noticed that some of His disciples were in the habit of eating their meals without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing to make them clean. For the Pharisees and all the Jews practice the customs handed down to them from their forefathers, read more. and will never eat until they have carefully washed their hands, and they never eat anything brought from the market until they wash it; and they have many other religious practices which they got from their forefathers, as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pans. And so the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why is it that your disciples do not practice the customs handed down from our forefathers, but eat their meals without purifying their hands?" But He answered them, "Isaiah beautifully prophesied about you hypocrites; as the Scripture says: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me; Their worship of me is but an empty show; the things they teach are but men's precepts.' "You give up what God has commanded,

And He answered them, "Are you too without understanding yet? Do you not know that nothing from the outside that goes into a man can make him foul, because it does not reach his heart but only his stomach, and then passes off into the waste?" In thus speaking He made all foods clean. read more. He kept on saying, "The thing that comes from the inside of a man is the thing that makes him foul, for from the inside, that is, from the hearts of men, designs for doing evil come, sexual immorality, stealing, murder,

for from the inside, that is, from the hearts of men, designs for doing evil come, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, abusiveness, haughtiness, thoughtlessness.

adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, abusiveness, haughtiness, thoughtlessness. All these evils come from the inside of a man and make him foul."

Some Pharisees came up, and to test Him they began to ask Him whether a man should be allowed to divorce his wife. And He answered them by asking, "What has Moses commanded you about it?" read more. They answered, "Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife, if he wrote out a divorce charge." But Jesus said to them, "It was due to your moral perversity that Moses wrote that command in your law. But from the beginning of the creation, 'God made them male and female. Therefore, a man must leave his father and mother, and he and his wife must become one,' so they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together man must stop separating."

And they came up and said to Him, "We know that you always tell the truth, and pay no personal consideration to anyone, but teach the way of God honestly. Is it right to pay poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Should we pay it, or should we not?" Now because He saw their pretense, He said to them, "Why are you testing me so? Bring me a twenty-cent coin to look at." read more. And they brought Him one. Then He asked them, "Whose picture and title is this?" They answered Him, "Caesar's." So He said, "Pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and pay God what belongs to God." And they were utterly dumbfounded at Him.

As the sun was setting, all who had friends sick with various diseases brought them to Him. Then He continued to lay His hands upon them one by one and cured them.

Then the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Therefore, I tell you, her sins, as many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the one who has little to be forgiven loves me little."

He said to another man, "Follow me." But he said, "Let me first go back and bury my father." Then He answered him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but you go on and continue to spread the good news of the kingdom of God."

A curse on you, Chorazin! A curse on you, Bethsaida! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you. read more. And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you are to go down to the regions of the dead. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever pays no attention to you pays no attention to me, and whoever pays no attention to me pays no attention to Him who sent me."

Just then an expert in the law got up to test Him by asking, "Teacher, what shall I do to get possession of eternal life?" And He answered him, "What is written in the law? How does it read?" read more. Then he answered, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole strength, and your whole mind, and your neighbor as you do yourself." He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Continue to do this, and you will live." But he, as he wished to justify his question, said, "But who is my neighbor?" Jesus answered: "A man was on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers, who both stripped him and beat him till he was half dead, and then went off and left him. Now a priest happened to be going that way, but when he saw him, he went by on the other side of the road. So a Levite likewise came down to the place, but when he saw him, he went by on the other side. But a Samaritan, while on a journey, came down to him, and when he saw him, his heart was moved with pity for him. So he went to him and dressed his wounds by pouring oil and wine upon them, and then he put him on his donkey and brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out a half dollar and handed it to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him, and on my way back I will repay you.' Which one of these three do you think proved himself a real neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?" He said, "The one who took pity on him." Jesus said to him, "Go and practice it yourself."

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and still more, his own life too, he cannot be a disciple of mine. Whoever does not persevere in carrying his own cross and thus following after me, cannot be a disciple of mine.

"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep, and if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and continue to look for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, with joy he puts it on his shoulders, read more. and when he reaches home he calls in his friends and neighbors, and says to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinful person who repents than over ninety-nine upright people who do not need any repentance.

Then He said to them, "You are the men who exhibit your uprightness before the public, but God knows your hearts. For what stands high in the sight of men is detestable in the sight of God.

"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day. And a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been laid at his gate, read more. and he was always craving to get a square meal from the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, the very dogs used to come and lick his sores. One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to be Abraham's bosom companion, and the rich man too died and was buried. And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion. So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there. Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.' Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house (for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.' Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee stood and said this self-centered prayer, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. read more. I fast two days in the week. I pay a tithe on everything I get.' But the tax-collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but continued to beat his breast, and say, 'O God, have mercy on me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man, and not the other, went back home forgiven and accepted by God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

Then Zaccheus got up and said to the Lord, "Listen, Lord! I now give to the poor half of my property, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay him back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this home, for he too is a real descendant of Abraham.

Then he went on to say, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom!"

And all the crowds who had come together for this sight, when they had seen what took place, returned to the city but continued to beat their breasts in grief.

It was through Him that everything came into existence, and apart from Him not a single thing came into existence. It was by Him that life began to exist, and that life was the light of mankind.

For while the law was given through Moses, spiritual blessing and truth have come through Jesus Christ.

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,

Jesus answered him, "I most solemnly say to you, no one can ever see the kingdom of God, unless he is born from above."

Whatever is born of the physical is physical, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spiritual.

"For God loved the world so much that He gave His Only Son, so that anyone who trusts in Him may never perish but have eternal life.

Whoever trusts in Him is never to come up for judgment, but whoever does not trust in Him has already received his sentence, because he has not trusted in the name of God's only Son.

But a time is coming -- indeed, it is already here -- when the real worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and reality, for the Father is looking for just such worshipers.

So I have told you that you would die under the curse of your sins, for unless you believe that I am the Christ, you will die under the curse of your sins."

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

Who of you can prove me guilty of sin? But if I do tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?

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

You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right in calling me so, for that is what I am.

I give you a new command, to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you too must love one another.

And if I go and make it ready for you, I will come back and take you to be face to face with me, so that you may always be right where I am.

In just a little while the world will not see me any more, but you will be seeing me. Because I am to live on, you too will live on.

"I am the real vine, and my Father is the cultivator. He cuts away any branch on me that stops bearing fruit, and He repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more. read more. You are already pruned because of the teaching that I have given you. You must remain in union with me and I will remain in union with you. Just as no branch by itself can bear fruit unless it remains united to the vine, so you cannot unless you remain in union with me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in union with me and I in union with him will bear abundant fruit, because you cannot do anything cut off from union with me. If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is thrown away as a mere branch and is dried up; then it is picked up and thrown into the fire and burned up. If you remain in union with me and my words remain in you, you may ask whatever you please and you shall have it. By your continuously bearing abundant fruit and in this way proving yourselves to be real disciples of mine, my Father is glorified. I have loved you just as the Father has loved me. You must remain in my love. If you continue to keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in His love.

"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now the fact is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever continues to hate me continues to hate my Father too. read more. If I had not done things among them that no one else has ever done, they would not be guilty of sin. But now the fact is, they have seen and even hated both my Father and me.

Men will turn you out of their synagogues. Yes, indeed, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think that he is rendering a religious service to God.

"And when He comes, He will bring conviction to worldly people about sin and uprightness and judgment;

"And when He comes, He will bring conviction to worldly people about sin and uprightness and judgment; about sin, because they do not believe in me;

I have told you these things, that you through union with me may have peace. In the world you have trouble, but be courageous! I have conquered the world."

I have glorified you down here upon the earth by completing the work which you have given me to do.

Father, I want to have those whom you have given me right where I am, in order that they may see the glory which you have given me, because you loved me before the creation of the world.

So they went out from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer disgrace for Jesus' name;

for as yet He had not come upon any of them, but they had been baptized merely in the name of the Lord Jesus.

So after they had given their testimony and spoken the Lord's message, they started back to Jerusalem, and on the way continued to tell the good news in many Samaritan villages. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south by the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza; this is the desert road." read more. So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian official, a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, her chief treasurer, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and now was on his way home. He was seated in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. So the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join him in his chariot." Then Philip ran up and listened to him reading the prophet Isaiah, and he asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He answered, "How in the world could I, unless someone teaches me?" And he begged him to get up and sit with him. Now this was the passage of Scripture that he was reading: "Like a sheep He was led away to be slaughtered, and just as a lamb is dumb before its shearer, so He does not open His mouth. Justice was denied Him in His humiliation, who can tell of His times? For His life is removed from the earth." "Tell me, I pray, of whom is the prophet speaking," asked the official of Philip, "of himself or of someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and starting from this passage, he told him the good news about Jesus. As they continued down the road, they came to some water, and the official said, "Look! here is some water! What is there to keep me from being baptized?" Omitted Text. So he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the official both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away; the official saw him no more, for he went on home rejoicing;

When Peter went into the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and did homage to him. But Peter lifted him to his feet, saying, "Get up, I too am just a man myself."

Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle, set apart to preach God's good news,

For the real Jew is not the man who is a Jew on the outside, and real circumcision is not outward physical circumcision. The real Jew is the man who is a Jew on the inside, and real circumcision is heart-circumcision, a spiritual, not a literal, affair. This man's praise originates, not with men, but with God.

Do we then through faith make null and void the law? Not at all; instead, we confirm it.

Since we have been given right standing with God through faith, then let us continue enjoying peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have an introduction through faith into this state of God's favor, in which we safely stand; and let us continue exulting in the hope of enjoying the glorious presence of God.

Now a man will scarcely ever give his life for an upright person, though once in a while a man is brave enough to die for a generous friend. But God proves His love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made of flesh that is frail, sold into slavery to sin.

For the life-giving power of the Spirit through union with Christ Jesus has set us free from the power of sin and death.

But you are not living on the plane of the lower nature, but on the spiritual plane, if the Spirit of God has His home within you. Unless a man has the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

For those on whom He set His heart beforehand He marked off as His own to be made like His Son, that He might be the eldest of many brothers;

And yet in all these things we keep on gloriously conquering through Him who loved us. For I have full assurance that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor the present nor the future read more. nor evil forces above or beneath, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God as shown in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Everybody must obey the civil authorities that are over him, for no authority exists except by God's permission; the existing authorities have been established by Him, so that anyone who resists the authorities sets himself against what God has established, and those who set themselves against Him will get the penalty due them. read more. For civil authorities are not a terror to the man who does right, but they are to the man who does wrong. Do you want to have no dread of the civil authorities? Then practice doing right and you will be commended for it. For the civil authorities are God's servants to do you good. But if you practice doing wrong, you should dread them, for they do not wield the sword for nothing. Indeed, they are God's servants to inflict punishment upon people who do wrong. Therefore, you must obey them, not only for the sake of escaping punishment, but also for conscience' sake; for this is the reason why you pay your taxes, for the civil authorities are God's official servants faithfully devoting themselves to this very end. Pay all of them what is due them -- tribute to the officer to receive it, taxes to the officer to receive them, respect to the man entitled to it, and honor to the man entitled to it.

Who are you to criticize another man's servant? It is his own master's business whether he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord has power to make him stand.

For I am not proclaiming myself but Christ Jesus as Lord, and myself a slave of yours for Jesus' sake.

For we must all appear before the judgment-bar of Christ, that each may get his pay for what he has done, whether it be good or bad.

For by experience you know the unmerited favor shown by our Lord Jesus Christ; that although He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, in order that by His poverty you might become rich.

Now the practices of the lower nature are clear enough: Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarreling, jealousy, anger, intrigues, dissensions, party-spirit, read more. envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I now warn you, as I have done before, that those who practice such things shall not be heirs of the kingdom of God. But the product of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

But the product of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. There is no law against such things.

gentleness, self-control. There is no law against such things.

Brothers, if anybody is caught in the very act of doing wrong, you who are spiritual, in the spirit of gentleness, must set him right; each of you continuing to think of yourself, for you may be tempted too. Practice bearing one another's burdens, and in this way carry out the law of Christ.

For everyone must carry his own load.

You too were dead because of the shortcomings and sins in which you once lived in accordance with the spirit of this present world, and the mighty prince of the air, who is always at work in the disobedient, among whom all of us, we Jews as well as you heathen, read more. once lived while gratifying the cravings of our lower nature, as we continued to carry out the impulses of our lower nature and its thoughts, and by nature we were exposed to God's wrath, as the rest of mankind. But God, who is so rich in mercy on account of the great love He has for us, has made us, though dead because of our shortcomings, live again in fellowship with Christ -- it is by His unmerited favor that you have been saved. And He raised us with Him and through union with Christ Jesus He made us sit down with Him in the heavenly realm, to show, throughout the coming ages, the boundless generosity of His unmerited favor shown us in His goodness to us through Christ Jesus.

through His human nature He has put a stop to the hostility between us, namely, the law with its commands and decrees, in order to create one new humanity out of the two parties and so make peace through union with Himself, and in one body

The man who used to steal must now stop stealing; rather, he must keep on working and toiling with his own hands at some honest vocation, so as to have something to contribute to the needy. You must stop letting any bad word pass your lips, but only words that are good for building up as the occasion demands, so that they will result in spiritual blessing to the hearers.

You married women must continue to live in subordination to your husbands, as you do to the Lord,

You slave-owners, too, must maintain the same attitude toward your slaves, and stop threatening them, for you know that their real Lord and yours is in heaven, and that He never shows partiality.

For it has been graciously granted to you for Christ's sake, not only to trust in Him but also to suffer for Him,

Keep on fostering the same disposition that Christ Jesus had.

So, my dearly loved friends, as you have always been obedient, so now with reverence and awe keep on working clear down to the finishing point of your salvation not only as though I were with you but much more because I am away; for it is God Himself who is at work in you to help you desire it as well as do it.

Yes, indeed, I certainly do count everything as loss compared with the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have lost everything, and value it all as mere refuse, in order to gain Christ and be actually in union with Him, not having a supposed right standing with God which depends on my doing what the law commands, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the real right standing with God which originates from Him and rests on faith. read more. Yes, I long to come to know Him; that is, the power of His resurrection and so to share with Him his sufferings as to be continuously transformed by His death, in the hope of attaining, in some measure, the resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead. It is not a fact that I have already secured it or already reached perfection, but I am pressing on to see if I can capture it, the ideal for which I was captured by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not think that I have captured it yet, but here is my one aspiration, so forgetting what is behind me and reaching out for what is ahead of me, I am pressing onward toward the goal, to win the prize to which God through Jesus Christ is calling us upward.

We are proclaiming Him, warning everyone and teaching everyone with ample wisdom, in order to present to God everyone mature through union with Christ.

So if you have been raised to life in fellowship with Christ, keep on seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Practice occupying your minds with the things above, not with the things on earth; read more. for you have died, and your life is now hidden in God through your fellowship with Christ. When Christ, who is our life, appears, you too will appear to be glorified in fellowship with Him. So once for all put to death your lower, earthly nature with respect to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is real idolatry. It is on account of these very sins that God's anger is coming. You too used to practice these sins, when you used to live that sort of life. But now you too must once for all put them all aside -- anger, rage, malice, and abusive, filthy talk from your lips. Stop lying to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its practices,

So as God's own chosen people, consecrated and dearly loved, you must once for all clothe yourselves with tenderheartedness, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience; you must keep on forbearing one another and freely forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord has freely forgiven you, so must you also do. read more. And over all these qualities put on love, which is the tie of perfection that binds us together. Let the peace that Christ can give keep on acting as umpire in your hearts, for you were called to this state as members of one body. And practice being thankful. Let the message of Christ continue to live in you in all its wealth of wisdom; keep on teaching it to one another and training one another in it with thankfulness, in your hearts singing praise to God with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. And whatever you say or do, let it all be done with reference to the Lord Jesus, and through Him continue to give thanks to God the Father. You married women must continue to live in subordination to your husbands, for this is your Christian duty.

Masters, you must practice doing the right and square things by your slaves, for you know that you have a Master in heaven.

So does Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only converts from Judaism that are fellow-workers with me here for the kingdom of God, who have proved a real comfort to me.

You must continue telling the people what is proper for wholesome teaching: the older men to be temperate, serious, and sensible, healthy in faith, in love, and in steadfastness;

training us to give up godless ways and worldly cravings and live serious, upright, and godly lives in this world,

training us to give up godless ways and worldly cravings and live serious, upright, and godly lives in this world, while we are waiting for the realization of our blessed hope at the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus, read more. who gave Himself for us to ransom us from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people to be His very own, zealous of good works.

how can we escape, if we pay no attention at all to a salvation that is so great? This is so because it was first proclaimed by the Lord Himself, and then it was proved to us to be valid by the very men who heard Him themselves,

For both He who is purifying them and those who are being purified all spring from one Father; so He is not ashamed to call them brothers, when He says: "I will announce your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise"; read more. and again, "I too will put my trust in God"; and again, "Here I am and the children God has given me." Since then the children mentioned share our mortal nature, He too took on Himself a full share of the same, in order that He by His death might put a stop to the power of him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and set at liberty those who all their lifetime had been subject to slavery because of their dread of death. For of course it is not angels but descendants of Abraham that He is to help. Therefore He had to be made like His brothers, so that He could be a sympathetic High Priest, as well as a faithful one, in things relating to God, in order to atone for the people's sins. For inasmuch as He has suffered Himself by being tempted, He is able to give immediate help to any that are tempted.

For we do not have a High Priest who is incapable of sympathizing with us in our weaknesses, but we have One who was tempted in every respect as we are, and yet without committing any sin.

For it is impossible for those who have once for all been enlightened and have experienced the gift from heaven, who have been made sharers of the Holy Spirit and have experienced how good God's message is and the mighty powers of the age to come, read more. and then have fallen by the wayside -- it is impossible, I say, to keep on restoring them to their first repentance, since they continue to crucify the Son of God to their detriment and hold Him up to contempt. For a piece of ground that drinks in the rains so frequently falling on it, and continues yielding vegetation useful to those for whose sakes it is cultivated, receives from God His blessings. But if it continues to yield thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and in danger of being cursed, and its final fate is burning.

with its golden incense-altar and the chest for the covenant, completely covered with gold, and in it a golden jar which held the manna, Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets on which the covenant was written;

the new and living way which He opened for us, through the curtain, that is, His physical nature,

For if we go willfully sinning after we have received full knowledge of the truth, there is no sacrifice left to be offered for our sins,

But you must continue to remember those earlier days when first you received the light and then endured so great a struggle with persecution, partly by being exposed as a public spectacle to insults and violent sufferings, and partly by showing yourselves ready to share with those who were living in this condition. read more. For you showed sympathy with those who were in prison and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, for you knew that you had in yourselves and in heaven one that was lasting.

And stop neglecting to do good and to be generous, for God is highly pleased with just such sacrifices as these.

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve tribes that are scattered over the world.

In accordance with His will He made us His children by the message of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

A religious worship that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: To look after orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep one's own self unstained by the world.

Now for this very reason you must do your level best to supplement your faith with moral character, moral character with knowledge,

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child.

Let everyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give to him who conquers some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on it which no one knows except the man who receives it."'"

I will make him who conquers a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall never again go out of it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.

Then they sang a new song: "You deserve to take the book and break its seals, because you have been slaughtered, and with your blood have bought men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation,

They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

It is I, John, who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me, to worship him. But he said to me: "You must be careful not to do that; I am only a fellow-slave of yours, of your brothers the prophets, and of the people who practice the truths contained in this book. Worship God."