# verses

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So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David up to the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ are fourteen generations.


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Now Jesus Christ's birth was like this: When his mother, Mary, was betrothed to Joseph, before they physically came together, she was discovered to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.


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Then her husband, Joseph, being upright and not willing to publicly disgrace her was intending to divorce here privately.


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But while he was thinking about these things, lo, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in is by the Holy Spirit.


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She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.


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Now all this happened, so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying,


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«Lo, a virgin will be pregnant and will give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which being interpreted means: God with us.»


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Then Joseph waking up from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary as his wife.


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He did not know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son, and he named him Jesus.


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Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem Judea in the days of King Herod, lo and behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,


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saying, "Where is he who is born King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him?


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After he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he demanded from them where Christ would be born.


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"And you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of you will come the leader, who will shepherd my people Israel."


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Then Herod, after privately calling the wise men, questioned them carefully as to what time the star appeared.


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Then he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go, search diligently for the young child, and when you have found him, bring me word, so that I may come and worship him, too".


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After they had heard the king, they left, and look, the star that they saw in the east, went ahead of them until it came and stood over where the young child was.


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When they came into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and kneeling down they worshiped him. After opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.


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Then being warned by God in a dream that they shouldn't return to Herod, they returned to their own country by different route.


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After they left, lo and behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, "Get up, and take the young child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring you word, for Herod intends to seek for the young child to kill him.


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He was there until Herod's death, in order that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."


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Then Herod seeing that he was tricked by the wise men was raging with anger and sent out and killed all the children in Bethlehem and the surrounding area from two years and under according to the time that he inquired from the wise men.


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"In Ramah a sound was heard, wailing, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and could not be comforted, for they are no more."


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But after Herod was dead, lo and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in Egypt in a dream, who said,


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"Get up, take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child's life are dead."


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But when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judah in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside to the regions of Galilee


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and came and lived in a city named Nazareth, in order that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets, "He will be called a Nazarene."


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For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet who said, "The voice of one shouting in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight."


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This same John had clothes of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.


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But when many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism, he said to them, "O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee the coming wrath?


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"Don't think to say within yourselves, "We have Abraham for our father," for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.


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"Now also the ax is laid to the root of the tree; therefore every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.


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"It's true that I baptize you with water at repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit or fire.


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"Whose winnowing shovel is in his hand. He will thoroughly clean his floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.


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Jesus answered him, "Allow it now, for it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness like this." Then he allowed him.


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After he was baptized, Jesus immediately got up out of the water and look the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the God's Spirit coming down like a dove and lighting on him.


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When the tempter came to him, he said, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."


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But he replied and said, "It has been written: Man will not live by bread only but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God."


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and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it has been written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will hold you up with their hands, lest at any time you whack your foot against a stone."


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Again the devil took him up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, Mat 4:9 and said to him, "All these things I will give you, if you will kneel down and worship me."


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Then Jesus said him, "Get out of here, Satan, for it has been written, "You will worship the Lord your God and serve only him."


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Then leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is on the sea coast by the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali,


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"Land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the road to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,


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the people sitting in darkness saw great light and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death, light is risen up."


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From that time Jesus started to preach and say, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near at hand."


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Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, throwing a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.


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Leaving there he saw two others brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them


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Jesus went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and types of disease among the people.


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His fame went throughout all of Syria, too, and they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with different diseases and severe pains, those who were possessed with devils, those who were mentally ill, and those who were paralyzed. He healed them all.


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Great crowds of people followed him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judah, and the other side of the Jordan.


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Seeing the large crowds, he went up to a mountain, and after sitting down, his disciples came to him,


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"You are blessed when people verbally abuse and persecute you and say all kinds of evil, wicked things about you falsely for my sake.


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"Rejoice and be very happy, for your reward in heaven is great, for they persecuted the prophets who were before you in this way.


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"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be used to salt something? Now it is good for nothing except to be thrown out and walked on by people.


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"People do not light a candle and put it under a basket but on a candlestick, and it gives its light to all who are in the house.


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"Let you light shine like this before men, so they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.


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"Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.


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"Truly I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will not in any way pass from the law until everything is fulfilled.


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"Therefore whoever breaks one of the least commandments and teach others so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does and teaches these will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.


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"For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not in any way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.


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"You have heard it said by those in the past: You must not murder and whoever does murder will be in danger of The Judgment.


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"And I tell you: that whoever is angry with his brother without a just reason will be in danger of The Judgment, and whoever says to his brother, "Raca," will be in danger of the Council, but whoever says, "You fool! Will be in danger of the fire of hell.


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"Therefore when you bring your gift to the altar and while there you remember that your brother has something against you,


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then leave your gift in front of the altar and go away. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.


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"Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the road with him, lest the adversary give you over to the judge, the judge hand you over to the law officer, and you are thrown into prison.


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"Truly I say to you: You will in no way come out of there until you have paid the very last farthing.


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"But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.


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"And if your right eye causes you to sin, pull it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your body parts gets destroyed instead of your whole body being thrown into hell.


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"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your body parts gets destroyed instead of your whole body being thrown into hell.


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but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife except for the reason of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever will marry her who is divorced commits adultery.


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"Again you have heard it said by those in the past: you must not make a solemn promise but will keep your promise to the Lord concerning your oaths.


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"Instead let your word be yes for yes and no for no, for whatever is more than these comes from evil.


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"You have heard it said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, [39] but I say to you: do not fight back evil, instead whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn to him the other side also.


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but I say to you: Love your enemies; bless those who curse you; do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,


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so that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.


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"For if you love those who love you, what is your reward? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?


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"And if you greet your brethren only, what more do you do than others, don't even the tax collectors do so?


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"Be careful that you don't do your charitable works in the presence of people so to be seen by them.


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"Therefore when you do your charitable works do not sound a trumpet before you like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets in order that they may have the praise of people. Truly I say to you that they have their reward.


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so that your charitable works may be in secret and your Father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly.


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"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and street corners, so that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you that they have their reward.


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"Instead when you pray, enter a private place, and after you have shut the door, then pray to your Father who sees in secret. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.


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"When you pray don't go on and on with the same empty phrases like the heathen use, for they think that they will be heard because they talk so much.


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"Don't bring us into testing trials instead deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen'


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"But if you do not forgive people their wrongdoings, neither will your Father forgive you your wrongdoings.


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"Furthermore when you fast, don't be like the hypocrites with a sad expression for they disfigure their faces so they can appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you that they have their reward.


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so that you don't appear to fast to people but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.


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" Do not store up treasures on earth for yourselves where moth and rust corrupts and where thieves break in and steal.


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"Instead store up treasures for yourselves in heaven where neither moth or rust corrupts, and where thieves do not break in and steal.


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"The light of the body is the eye, therefore if your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light.


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"But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!


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"No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other or else he will cling closely to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.


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"Therefore I say to you do not be troubled about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, or about clothes for your body. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothes?


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"Look at the birds of the air, they don't sow, reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you much better than they?


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"And why worry about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they don't work or spin cloth.


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"Therefore if God dresses the grass of the field which is today but tomorrow is thrown in the oven, won't he even more cloth you, O you of little faith?


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"Instead first of all seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.


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"Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have its own worries. The troubles of today are enough.


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"For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you in return.


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"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the log that is in your eye?


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"Or why do you say to your brother, «Let me pick out the speck out of your eye', and look, there is a log in your eye?


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"You hypocrite, first throw out that log from your eye, then you will see clearly to throw out that speck from your brother's eye.


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"Do not give what is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls in the presence of pigs, lest they trample them under their feet, turn around, and tear you to pieces.


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"If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?


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"Therefore whatever you want people to do to you, you do so to them, too, for this is the law and the prophets.


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"Enter in at the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is spacious that leads to destruction, and many are there who go in there.


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"Because the gate is narrow and the road constricted that leads to life and there are few who find it.


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"Not every one who says to me: "Lord, Lord," will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.


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"Many will say to me in that day: "Lord, Lord haven't we prophesied in your name and in your name cast out devils and in your name done many miracles?


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"Then I will openly declare to them: "I never knew you, get away from me, you workers of wickedness.


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"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will compare him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.


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"The rain fell down and floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house, and it didn't collapse, because it was built on a rock.


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"And every one who hears these sayings of mine and doesn't do them, will be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand.


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"The rain fell down and the floods came; the winds blew and beat on that house, and it collapsed. Great was the fall of it."


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And it came about, after Jesus had finished these sayings the people were astonished at his teaching, [29] for he taught them as one having authority unlike the scribes.


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Jesus put out his hand and touched him saying, "I am willing, be clean." Instantly his leprosy was cleansed.


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"Jesus said to him, "See to it that you tell no one, nevertheless make your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."


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The centurion replied and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. Just only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.


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"For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to one, "Go," and he goes; and to another, "Come," and he comes; and to my servant, "Do this," and he does it."


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When Jesus heard this he marveled and said to those who followed, "Truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.


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"I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven.


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"But the children of the kingdom will be thrown out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."


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Jesus said to the centurion, "Go you way, as you have believed, let it be done for you". His servant was healed in that very hour.


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When evening had come, they brought to him many who were possessed with devils, and he throw out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick,


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so that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying: He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.


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Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have anywhere to lay his head."


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Look! A violent storm rose up on the sea, so much so, that the ship was covered with the waves, but he was asleep.


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He said to them, "Why, are you afraid, O you of little faith? Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.


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And look! They shouted saying, "What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?


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A ways off from them there was a herd of many pigs feeding, [31] so the devils pleaded with him saying, "If you throw us out, allow us to go into the herd of pigs."


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He said to them, "Go". After they came out, they went into the herd of pigs, ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and drowned in the waters.


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Those who kept them, ran off and went their separate way into the city and told everything, and what had happened to the one possessed by devils.


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And look, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they pleaded that he would leave their area.


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And look, they brought a paralyzed man, lying on a bed. Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralyzed: "Son, take courage; your sins are forgiven."


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"So that you will know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sin"--he then says to the paralyzed--"get up, pick up your bed, and go to your house."


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When the crowd saw this, they were amazed and gave glory to God who gave this kind of authority to men.


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Leaving there Jesus saw a man sitting in the tax collector's office named Matthew, and he said to him, "Follow me", and he got up and followed him.


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And it so happened that Jesus sat for a meal in the house, and behold, many tax collectors and sinners came to sit for a meal with Jesus and his disciples.


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When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, "Why is your teacher eating with tax collectors and sinners?


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But when Jesus heard this he said to them, "Those who are well don't need a physician only those who are sick.


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"Go and learn what this means, «I want mercy not sacrifice» , for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."


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Then the disciples of John came to him saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees often fast, but your disciples do not fast?


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Jesus answered them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom grieve while the bridegroom is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast.


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"No one puts a piece of new cloth on an old garment, for what fills shrinks [pulls away?] and the tear becomes worse.


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"Nor do they put new wine into old skin bottles, otherwise the skin bottles will break, the wine pours out, and the skin bottles destroyed. Instead put new wine into new skin bottles and both are preserved".


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While he was speaking these things to them, look, one came, knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come, lay your hand on her, and she will live."


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And behold, a woman losing blood for twelve years, came behind him and touched the hem of his garment.


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But Jesus turned around and saw her and said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." The woman became well at that very moment.


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When Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the people loudly wailing, [24] he said to them, "Move aside, for the girl is not dead but is sleeping." And they scornfully laughed at him.


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After Jesus left there, two blind men followed him, shouting, and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us."


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When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said, "Do you believe, that I am able to do this"? They said to him, "Yes, Lord."


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When the devil was thrown out the man [who was] unable to speak, spoke, and the throng was amazed saying, "This has never been seen in Israel!


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Jesus went around to all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.


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As he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they grew weak and were scattered like sheep having no shepherd.


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After he had called his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits--to cast them out--and to heal every sickness and every disease.


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These are the names of the twelve apostles. The first is Simon, who is called Peter, then Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John his brother;


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Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew, the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; then Lebbeus surnamed Thaddaeus;


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Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them saying, "Do not go into the Gentile area and do not enter a Samaritan city.


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"Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils. You received without cost, so give without cost,


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or a lunch bag for your journey, or two tunics, sandals, or walking sticks, for the workman is worthy of his food.


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"And if the family is worthy, let you blessing of peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your blessing of peace return to you.


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"Whosoever will not receive you or listen to you message, when you leave that family or city, shake the dust off your feet.


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"Truly I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that city.


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"Look, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, therefore be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.


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"You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake for a testimony against them and the gentiles.


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"But when they hand you over, don't be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given to you at that very hour, what you will say.


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"Brother will hand brother over to death and father the child, and children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be killed.


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"But when they persecute you in this city, flee to another, for truly I say to you that you will not have gone to every city in Israel before the Son of Man comes.


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"It is enough for the disciple that he would become like his teacher and the servant like his master. If they have called the head of the family, Beelzebub, then how much more those of his family?


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"Therefore, don't be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered up that won't be uncovered nor a secret that won't be known.


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"What I tell in you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear with your ear, announce on the housetops.


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"Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, instead fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.


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"Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them can fall to the ground without your Father.


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"So then, whosoever will confess me openly before people, I also will confess openly before my Father who is in heaven.


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"For I came to alienate a man from his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.


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"He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.


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"He who welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and he who welcomes a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.


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"Whoever will give a drink to one of these little ones, even just a cup of cold water, because he is a disciple, will, I truly say to you, not lose his reward."


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Then it came about when Jesus had finished these instructions to his twelve disciples, he left there to teach and preach in their cities.


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"The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them.


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As they left, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John, "What did you go out to see in the wilderness, a reed shaking in the wind?


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"But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Look, those who wear soft clothes are in king's houses.


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"For this is about whom it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you.


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"Truly, I say to you: Among those born of women, there has not risen any greater than John the Baptist, nevertheless he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.


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"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent are seizing it.


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"But to what will I compare this generation to? It is like children sitting in the markets and calling out to their friends,


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saying: «We played flutes for you, yet you haven't danced. We have mourned for you, yet you haven't acted as you mourned.


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"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say: «Look, a glutton and wino, a friend of tax collectors and sinner.» But wisdom is justified by her children."


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Then he started to severely rebuke the cities where most of his mighty works were done, because they did not repent.


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"Woe to you, Chorzain, woe to Bethsaida! If the mighty works, which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.


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"But I say to you: «It will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for you.


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"And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to hell, for if the mighty works which were done i:n you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.


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"But I say to you: «That it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for you".


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At that time Jesus started to talk, saying, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these thing from the experts and the learned and has revealed them to the unlearned.


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"All things are given to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father, neither does anyone fully know the Father except the Son and to whoever the Son is willing to reveal him.


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"Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am not overbearing, I am lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.


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At that time on the Sabbath, Jesus went through the grain fields; his disciples were hungry and started to pick the heads of grain and eat.


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But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath".


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But he said to them, "Haven't you read what David did when he was hungry and those who were with him?


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"How he went into the House of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him; but only for the priests.


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"Or haven't you read in The Law, how on the Sabbath Days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath yet are blameless?


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"But if you had really known what this means: «I will have mercy and not sacrifice;' you wouldn't have condemned the guiltless.


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And look, there's a man whose hand was withered. They asked him--so they could accuse him--saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath Days?"


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He said to them, "What man is there among you, who will have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not get a hold of it and lift it out?


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Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand". He stretched it out and it was restored to good health, even as the other.


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«Look, my servant whom I have chosen, my well beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will announce judgment to the Gentiles.


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Then one possessed with a devil, blind and unable to speak, was brought to him, and he healed him, so much so that the blind and mute both spoke and saw.


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But when the Pharisees heard about it, they said, "He doesn't cast out devils, except by Beelzebub, the prince of devil".


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Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or family divided against itself will not continue.


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"If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your followers cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.


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"How then can one enter into a strong man's house, unless he ties up the strong man first, then he will plunder his house.


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"Therefore I say to you: All kinds of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven of men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven of men.


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"Whosoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whosoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, not in this age nor in the age to come.


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"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree worthless and it fruit worthless, for the tree is known by its fruit.


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"O generation of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.


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"A good man out of the heart's good treasure brings forth good, but an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil.


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"I say to you: That for every useless word that people speak, they will give an account of it in the Day of Judgment.


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Then certain among the Scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Master, we want to see a sign from you".


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But he answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign. There will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.


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"For as Jonah was in the giant fish's stomach three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.


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"The men of Nineveh will rise with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's preaching and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.


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"The queen of the south will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, for she came from the uttermost part of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.


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"When the unclean spirit has come out of a man, he walks through dry country seeking rest and doesn't find any.


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"So he says, «I will return into my house from where I came out', and when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and decorated.


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"Then he continues in and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they will enter and live there. The last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so it will be to this wicked generation as well."


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While he was still speaking to the people, look, his mother and his brothers were standing outside wanting to speak with him.


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Someone said to him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak with you."


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"For whosoever will do the will of my Father, who is in heaven, the same is my brother, sister, and mother."


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Great crowds were gathered together near him, so that he went into a ship and sat, and the whole crowd stood on the shore.


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"Some fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much earth, and they sprung up immediately, but because they had no root, they withered away.


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"But other fell on good ground, and gave fruit, some a hundred times more, some sixty, and some thirty.


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He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them.


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"For whoever has, it will be given to him, and he will have even more, but whoever doesn't have, that what he does have will be taken away from him.


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"That's why I speak to them in parables, because they seeing, do not see, and hearing, do not hear nor do they understand.


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"The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in them that says: «By hearing, you will hear, and will not understand, and seeing, you will see, and not able to see the meaning.»


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"For this people's heart is callous and their ears are tuned out and their eyes are closed, lest at any time they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted and I would heal them.


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"For truly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see and have not seen, and to hear what you hear and have not heard.


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"When any one hears the word of the kingdom and doesn't understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart. This is what landed on the roadside.


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"Yet he has no root in himself but only endures for awhile, for when hard times or persecution begins because of the word, he just falls away.


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"What landed among the thorns is he who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes the word and he becomes unfruitful.


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"But what landed on good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, then bears fruit some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty".


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He told them another parable, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, [25] but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.


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"So the household servants came and said to him, «Sir, didn't you sow good seed into your field, then where did the tares come from?»


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 He said to them, «An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, «Do you want us to go and gather them?»


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«Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will say to the reapers, "Gather together the tares first and tie them into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.»»


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He told them another parable, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.


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"That truly in the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest of herbs and becomes tree like, so that the birds of the air come and live in its branches."


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He told them another parable, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and mixed in three measures of flour until the whole thing was leavened."


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Jesus spoke all these things to the multitude in parables, and he did not speak to them except in a parable,


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that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will speak of things, which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."


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Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went in the house, and his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares in the field."


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"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the Kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked.


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"The enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels.


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"The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom everything that offends: those who offend and those who do wickedness.


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"Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which when a man finds, he hides it. Because of the joy it [gives]), he then goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.


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"Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and took in all kinds [of fish],


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which when it was full, they pulled to shore, sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but threw the bad away.


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Then he said to them, "Therefore, every scribe who is instructed in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a homeowner, who brings out of his treasury new and old things."


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And when he had come into his hometown, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were amazed and said, "Where does this man get this wisdom and these mighty miracles?


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"Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary, and his brothers [named] James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?


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They were offended because of him, but Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own hometown and in his own family."


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and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead, and that's how these miracles are brought about by him."


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For Herod had taken hold of John, tied him up, and put him in prison because of Heroidias, his brother Philip's wife.


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When he wanted to kill him, he was scared of the multitude, because they considered him to be a prophet.


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But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, Herodias' daughter danced in front of them and pleased Herod.


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Instructed beforehand by her mother, she said, "Give me right here the head of John the Baptist on a plate."


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And king was grieved, nevertheless because of the oath and those who sat with him for the meal, he commanded it to be given her.


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When Jesus heart about it, he left there by ship to a deserted place by himself. When the people heard about it, they followed him on foot out of the cities.


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When it was evening, his disciples came to him saying, "This is a desolate place, and it is long past time. Send the crowd away, so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves."


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He commanded the crowd to sit down on the grass, took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up into heaven, he blessed, broke, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude.


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They all ate and were satisfied, then they picked up the pieces that were left--twelve baskets full!


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Jesus immediately made his disciples get into a ship and to go before him to the other side, while he sent the crowd away.


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After he sent the crowd away, he went up a mountain alone to pray, and when evening had come, he was there alone.


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Meanwhile the ship was now in the midst of the sea tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against them.


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When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were very uneasy saying, "It is a ghost;" and they screamed in fear.


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Then he said, "Come." After Peter had stepped out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.


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But when he saw the howling wind, he was scared and starting to sink, he shouted saying, "Lord, save me."


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Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, caught him, and said to him, "O you little-faith, why did you doubt?"


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When the men of that place recognized him, they sent out to all the surrounding region and brought all who were diseased to him,


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and begged him that they might only touch the hem of his garment, and as many as touched were made perfectly well.


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"Why do the disciples break the elders' tradition, for they don't wash their hands when they eat bread?"


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"For God commanded saying: «Honor your father and mother,» and «He who curses father and mother, let him die the death.»


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"But you say, «Whosoever will say to his father or mother, Whatever might be of a help to you is a dedicated gift already,»


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"This people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with mouths, but their heart is far from me.


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"It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man but that which comes out of the mouth--that defiles a man."


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Then his disciples came and said to him, "Don't you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard that saying?"


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"Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch."


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"Don't you understand yet that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach comes out in the toilet?


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"For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies.


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And look, a woman of Canaan came out of the same region and called out to him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."


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But he didn't reply even a word. His disciples came asked him, saying, "Get her out of here, for she keeps calling out to us."


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The Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith; let it happen to you even as you wish." Her daughter was cured that very hour.


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Jesus then left from there and came near the Sea of Galilee and went up into a mountain and sat down there.


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And great crowds came to him having with them those [who were] lame, blind, unable to speak, maimed, and many others and laid them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them.


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So much so that the crowds were amazed when they saw those unable to speak speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel.


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Then Jesus called his disciples and said, "I feel sorry for the crowd, because they have stayed with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I will not send them away not eating, lest they become weak on the road."


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His disciples said to him, "Where can we get so much bread in this desolate place so to satisfy such a great crowd?"


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He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke [the food into pieces], and gave it to the disciples, and the disciples [gave] to the crowd.


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"And in the morning stormy weather [is coming], because the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You can discern the weather, but you can't the signs of the times.


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"A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, and there will be no sign given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." He left them and went away.


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But Jesus knew this, so he said to them, "O what little faith, why do you talk it over among yourselves how that you have brought no bread?


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"Don't you still understand nor remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up;


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"Why is it that you don't understand that I didn't speak to you about being beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?"


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Then they understood that he wasn't asking them to beware of the yeast of bread but about the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.


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When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, "Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?"


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Jesus answered and said to him, "You are blessed, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven.


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"I also say to you that you are Peter and I will build my congregation on this rock, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.


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"And I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you will forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."


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From the time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed,and then be raised up the third day.


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Then Peter took him and started to rebuke him saying, "Far from it, Lord, this will not happen to you."


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But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me, for you are not thinking about God's things but man's."


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Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone will come with me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.


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"For whoever will save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.


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"For what does a man profit if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?


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"For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and at that time he will pay back everyone according to his actions.


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"Truly I say to you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."


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Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and brought them up on a high mountain alone.


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He transformed his appearance in front of them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes was as white as its light.


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Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord it is good for us to be here. If you want, let us make three tents here one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."


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While he was still speaking a bright cloud encircled them, and look, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen closely to him."


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As they came down from the mountain Jesus commanded them saying, "Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is risen from the dead."


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"But I tell you that Elijah came already, and they didn't recognize him, but they did to him whatsoever they wanted to. In a similar way the Son of Man will also suffer from them."


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"Lord have mercy on my son, for he is a epileptic and suffers greatly, for sometimes he falls into the fire and often into the water.


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Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless, corrupt generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring him here to me."


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Jesus said to them, "Because of your weak faith, for truly I say to you: If you had faith even as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, «Go from here to there,» and it would change places. Nothing would be impossible for you.


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While they stayed in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men.


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When they came to Capernaum, those who collected Temple taxes came to Peter and said, "Doesn't your master pay the Temple tax?"


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He said, "Yes." When he came into the house, Jesus stopped him saying, "What do you think Simon from whom do the earthly kings take duties and taxes, their own children or those not their own?"


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"But lest we offend them, you go to the sea and thrown in a hook. Take up the first fish that comes up. After you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money. Take that and give it to them for me and you."


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and said, "Truly I say to you: Unless you are converted and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.


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"Whosoever therefore will humble himself like this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.


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"But whosoever will offend one of these ones who believe in me, it would be better that a huge millstone were hung around his neck, and he would drown in the depths of the sea.


text:
"Woe to the world because of its snares, for it is inevitable that temptations come, but woe to that man by whom the temptation comes from.


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"Therefore if your hand or your foot is what snares you cut them off and thrown [them] away from you; it is better for you to enter into life crippled or disfigured than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire.


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"And if your eye is what snares you, pluck it out and throw [it] from you; it is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell fire.


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"Be careful that you don't despise one of these little ones, for I say to you: that in heaven their angels do always look at the face of my Father who is in heaven.


text:
"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety nine and go into the mountains and searches for the one who wandered off?


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"And if it happens that he finds it, truly I say to you that he rejoices more for that [sheep] than for the ninety nine who didn't wander off.


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"Eve so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should die.


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"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him privately. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.


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"But if he will not listen, then take with you one or two more, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word can be verified.


text:
"But if he will refuse to listen to them, tell it to the congregation. If he refuses to listen to the congregation, let him be considered as a heathen and publican to you.


text:
"Truly I say to you: Whatever you will decide to forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you will permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.


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"Again I say to you: that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.


text:
Then Peter came to him and said, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him--until seven times?"


text:
"Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a certain king who wanted to take an account from his servants.


text:
"But since he had no way to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold even his wife, children, and everything that he had for repayment.


text:
"Then the servant fell down and kneeled before him saying, «Lord have patience with me, and I will repay all to you.»


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"Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosened him and forgave him that debt.


text:
"Now that same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid his hand on him and took [him] by the throat saying, «Pay me what you owe.»


text:
"His fellow servant fell down at his feet and pleaded with him saying, «Have patience with me, and I will repay you all.»


text:
"So when his fellow servants saw what happened, they were very sad and came and told their lord everything that had happened.


text:
"Then his lord after calling him in said, «O you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you asked me to.


text:
"His lord was very angry and turned him over to the tormenters, until he would repay everything that was due him.


text:
"So in the same way will my heavenly Father also do to you, if you don't forgive from your hearts every one of his brother's sins."


text:
So it came about when Jesus had finished these words, he left from Galilee and came to the area of Judea on the other side of the Jordan.


text:
The Pharisees also came tempting him and saying to him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?"


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He answered and said to them, "Haven't you read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female,


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and said, «For this reason a man will leave father and mother and will have an indissoluble union with his wife, and they will be one flesh.»


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"Therefore they are not any longer two but one flesh. What God joined together, man must not separate."


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He said to them, "Moses because of your hard hearts allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not such from the beginning.


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"I say to you, «Whosoever will divorce his wife--except for fornication--and will marry another commits adultery. Whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.»


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"For some are eunuchs who were born this way from theirs mother's womb, some are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and some are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it."


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Then little children were brought to him so that he could put [his] hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.


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But Jesus said, "Allow the little children; do not stop them from coming to me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."


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Now look, one came and said to him, "Good Master, what good thing can I do that I may have eternal life?"


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And he said to him, "Why do you call me good? None is good except one--God, but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."


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He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "You must not murder; you must not commit adultery; you must not steal, you must not bear false witness; [19] "Honor you father and mother, and you must love your neighbor as yourself."


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Jesus said to him, "If you will be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, then you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me."


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Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Verily I say to you, «That a rich man will with difficulty enter in the Kingdom of Heaven.»


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"Again I say to you, «It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter in the Kingdom of Heaven.'"


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But Jesus looked right at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."


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Then Peter said to him, "Look, we have forsaken everything and followed you. What then will we have?"


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Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you who have followed me, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory in The Regeneration, you also will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.


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"And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, and fields for my name's sake will receive a hundred times more and will inherit everlasting life.


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"For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man [who is] a landowner and went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.


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"When he had made an agreement with the workers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.


text:
"He went out about the third hour [about 0900 AM] and saw others standing unemployed in the marketplace,


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"and he said to them: «You go also into the vineyard and whatever is right, I will give you,» and they went out.


text:
"Around the eleventh hour [5 PM] he went out and found others standing unemployed and said to them, «Why did you stand here all day unemployed?»


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"They said to him, «Because no man has hired us.» He said to them, «You go also into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.»


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"So when evening came the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the workers and give them their pay starting from the last to the first.»


text:
"Now when the first came, they assumed they would get more, but each one likewise received a denarius.


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"saying: «These last have only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who carried the burden and heat of the day.»


text:
"But he answered one of them and said, «Friend, I didn't do you any wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a denarius?»


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"Look, we are going to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to die.


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"They will deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, scourge, and to crucify, but the third day, he will rise again."


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Then the mother of Zebedee's children came with her sons worshiping and desiring certain things from him.


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And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on the left in your kingdom."


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But Jesus answered and said, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup that I will drink from and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to him, "We are able."


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And he said to them, "You will truly drink from my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand or on my left is not mine to give, but for those to whom it is prepared by my Father."


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But Jesus called to them and said, "You know that the princes of the Gentiles wield power over them, and those who are great, wield power over them.


text:
"But it is not to be so among you. Whosoever wants to be great among you, then let him be your servant.


text:
"Even as the Son of Man didn't come to be served but instead to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."


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And look, two blind men were sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus passed by, they shouted saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David."


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The crowd told them off, because they should shut up, but they shouted even more saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David."


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So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. Immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.


text:
When they got close to Jerusalem and arrived at Bethphage next to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, Mat 21:2 telling them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to me.


text:
"If anyone says anything to you, you tell them, «The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."


text:
"You tell the daughter of Zion, «Look! Your king comes to you, meek, and riding on a donkey and on a colt the foal of a donkey.'"


text:
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.


text:
The crowd that went in front and those who followed shouted saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest."


text:
Jesus went into the Temple of God and threw out all those who sold and bought in the temple. He also overturned the table of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.


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He said to them, "It is written, «My house will be called the House of Prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.»


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When the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children shouting in the temple saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were outraged.


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They said to him, "Don't you hear what they say?" Jesus said to them, "Yes, have you never read, «Out of the mouth of little children and nursing children you have perfected praise.»


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When he saw a fig tree on the way, he came to it and found nothing except leaves and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you from now to eternity." Instantly the fig tree withered.


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Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you: If you have faith and don't doubt, you will not only do this to the fig tree, but if you also will say to this mountain: Be removed; be thrown into the sea. It will be done.


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When he had come to the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, "By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?"


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Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.


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"John's baptism, where did it come from--heaven or men?" They talked it over, "If we will say, «From heaven,» he will say to us, "Why didn't you believe him then?


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Then they answered Jesus and said, "We don't know."So he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.


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"Now what do you think? A certain man had two sons. He came to the first and said, «Son, go work in my vineyard today.»


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"Which of the two then did the father's will?" They said to him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, «That the tax collectors and harlots will go into the Kingdom of God before you.»


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"For John came to you in the path of righteousness, but you didn't believe him. But the tax collectors and harlots believed him. And when you saw it, you didn't repent afterward, so that you might believe him.


text:
"Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner, who planted a vineyard and hedged it all around. He also dug a winepress on it and built a tower. He then leased it to tenants and went into a far off country.


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"When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, so that to receive its harvest.


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"But when the tenants saw the son, they said among themselves, «This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.»


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They said to him, "He will miserably destroy those wicked men and will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the harvests on time to him."


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Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures, «The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is marvelous in our eyes.»


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"Therefore I say to you, «The Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the harvest of it.


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"And whosoever will fall on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it will fall, it will grind him to powder.»


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When the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them.


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"Again he sent out other servants saying, «Tell those who are invited, "Look, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves are butchered and everything is ready. Come to the marriage.»


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"But when the king heard about it, he was furious. He sent out his armies and destroyed those murders and burned up their city.


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"So those servants went out into the streets and gathered together every one they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding was filled with guests.


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"He said to him, «Friend, how did you get in here without having wedding clothes?» [The man] was speechless.


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"Then the king said to his servants, «Tie him up hand and foot and take him away, throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.»


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They sent out their disciples along with the Herodians to him saying, "Master, we know that you are true and teach God's way in truth, neither do you give special care to any, for you don't regard the status of people.


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They said to him, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."


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That same day Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, and asked him, [24] saying, "Master, Moses said, «If a man died without children, his brother is to marry his wife and raise up descendants for his brother.»


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"Now there with us seven brothers. The first, after he had married, died having no offspring, so left his wife to his brother.


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"For in the resurrection, they don't marry, or given in marriage, but they are like God's angels in heaven.


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"But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven't you ever read what was spoken to you by saying, [32] "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living."


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Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him saying, [36] "Master, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"


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Jesus said to him, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.


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No man was able to answer him a word, neither did any dare ask him any more [questions] from that day.


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"Therefore everything whatever they ask you to observe, observe and do but don't do like they do, for they talk [it] but don't do [it].


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"For they tie heavy and grievous burdens and put them on people's shoulders, but they [themselves] will not remove them with one of their fingers.


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"But they do all their deeds only to be noticed by people. They make their phylacteries wide and make the borders of their garments very large.


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"But you are not to be addressed as Rabbi, because one is your Master, Christ, and you are all brothers.


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"Do not address anyone as your "Father" on this earth, because one is your Father, who is in heaven.


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"But woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. You hypocrites! You close the Kingdom of Heaven from people, for you do not go in yourselves nor allow those who are trying to enter in.


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"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. You hypocrites! You eat up widows' houses and for pretense make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive the greater damnation.


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"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. You hypocrites! You travel sea and land to make one convert, and when this is accomplished, you make him twice the child of hell than yourselves.


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"Woe to you, you blind guides. You say, «Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.»


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"And [you say], «Whoever will swear by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is obligated.


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"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. You hypocrites! For you tithe mint, anise, and cumin, yet have omitted the weightier matters of The Law--justice, mercy, and faith. These ought to be done by you and not to leave the other undone.


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"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. You hypocrites! For you clean the cup's and dish's outside, yet inside they are full of extortion and lack of self-control.


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"You blind Pharisee. Clean what is inside the cup and dish first, so that the outside may be also clean.


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"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees. You hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which truly appear beautiful outwardly but inside full of dead [men's] bones and all uncleanness.


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"Even so you also appear righteous outwardly to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.


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"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees? You hypocrites! For you build the prophets tombs and decorate the tombs of the righteous.


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"You say, «If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.»


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"Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the children of those who killed the prophets.


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"Therefore, look, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Some of them you will whip in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city.


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"So that on you will fall all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.


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"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you. How often I wanted to gather your children together even like a hen gathers her chicks under [her] wings, but you would not.


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"For I say to you: You will not see me anymore, until you say, «Blessed [is] he who comes in the name of the Lord.»


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Jesus went out and departed from the Temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the Temple.


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Jesus said to them, "You see all these do you not? Truly I say to you: There will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down."


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And as he sat down on the Mount of Olives, the disciples privately came to him asking, "Tell us when these things will be, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world."


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"You will hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not bothered [by it], for all [these things] must come about, but the end is not yet.


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"For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.


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"They will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.


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"And this gospel of the kingdom will be publicly announced to all the world for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.


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"Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the Holy Place--whoever reads [this], let him understand,


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"For then the great tribulation will come about, such as never has happened since the beginning of the world to now, no, nor ever will be.


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"Unless those days get shortened there would be no flesh saved, but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.


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for many false Christs will arise and false prophets, and they will show awesome signs and miracles, so much so that if possible, they will deceive the very elect.


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"Therefore if they will say to you, «Look, he is in the desert, do not go out,» or «Look, he is in a private place,» don't believe it.


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"For as the bright shining comes from the east and shines even to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.


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"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.


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"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and at that time all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.


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" He will send out his angels with a loud sounding of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four quarters of the earth, from one end of heaven to the other.


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"Now learn the parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near.


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"For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark.


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"They didn't know until the flood came and took them all away. So also the coming of the Son of Man will be.


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"But know this, that if the house owner would have known what time of day the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken up.


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"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord had made ruler over his household to give them food at the proper time.


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then the lord of that servant will come on a day when is not looking for him and on an hour that he isn't aware of.


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"He will cut him in pieces and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."


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"Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.


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"But the wise answered, saying, «No, lest there won't be enough for us and you. Instead you go to those who sell and buy for yourselves.»


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"While they went to buy, the bridegroom came. Those who were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.


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"So then, be watching, for you don't know neither the day or the hour in which the Son of Man comes.


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"For [the Kingdom of Heaven is] like a man traveling into a far away country, who summoned his servants and gave them his possessions.


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"And he gave five talents to one, two to another, one to another. Everyone [was given] according to his ability, then he immediately took his journey.


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"So he who had received five talents came and brought five more talents saying, «Lord, You give me five talents. Look! I have gained five more talents.»


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"His lord said to him, «Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will make you ruler over much. Enter into the joy of your lord.»


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"He who had received two talents came and said, «Lord, you gave me two talents. Look! I have gained two more talents.»


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"His lord said to him, «Well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will make you ruler over much. Enter into the joy of you lord.»


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"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, «Lord, I know you. You are a hard man reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't dispersed.


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"His lord answered and said to him, «You wicked, slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn't sow and gather where I haven't dispersed.»


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"Therefore you should have put my money with the bankers, and when I came, I could have received my own with interest.


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"For to everyone who has something, more will be given, and he will have much, but from him who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.


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"When the Son of Man will come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.


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"All nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another like a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.


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"Then the King will say to them on his right hand, «Come blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.


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«For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.


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"'[I was] naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.'


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"Then the righteous will answer him, saying, «Lord, when did we see you hungry and fed you, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?


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"Then the King will answer and say to them, «Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me.»


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"Then he will say to those on his left hand, «Get away from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.


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«I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe me; sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.»


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"Then they will also answer him, saying, «Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison, and didn't help you?»


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"Then he will answer them, saying, «Truly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you didn't do it for me.»


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Then the Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders of the People got together in the palace of the High Priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and


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a woman came to him there having an alabaster box of very expensive ointment and poured it on his head as he sat [eating].


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When Jesus understood this, he said to them, "Why trouble the woman, for she has done a good work on me.


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"Truly, I say to you, "Wherever this gospel will be preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial of her."


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and said, "What will you give me, if I will deliver him to you?" They made an agreement with him for thirty pieces of silver.


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Now the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus asking him, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"


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He said to them, "Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, «The Master says, "My time is near, I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples."'


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Now when evening came, he sat down with the twelve, [21] and as they ate, he said, "Truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me".


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"The Son of Man departs as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man, if he had not been born."


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Then Judas, who betrayed him, responded and said, "Master, is it me?" He said to him, "You have said so."


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As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take, eat, this is my body."


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"But I say to you, «I will not drink of this fruit of the vine anymore until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.»


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Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will desert me this night, for it is written, «I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.»


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Jesus said to him, "Truly, I say to you that this night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."


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Peter said to him, "Though I die with you, I will not deny you!" So all the disciples said likewise.


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Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, "Sit here, while I go and pray over there."


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He went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed saying, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless not as I want but as you [want].


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Then he came to his disciples, found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What! Couldn't you stay awake with me for one hour?"


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"Stay awake and pray, so that you don't enter into temptation. The spirit is truly willing, but the flesh is weak."


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Again he went the second time and prayed saying, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, unless I drink it, your will be done."


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Then he came to his disciples and said to them, "Go ahead and sleep; take your rest. Look! The hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.


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While he was still speaking, look, Judas, one of the twelve, and a large group with swords and clubs came from the chief priests and elders of the people.


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Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?" Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took him.


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And look, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, drew his sword, and struck the servant of the High Priest cutting off his ear.


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Then Jesus said to him, "Put away your sword into its place, for all who will take the sword will perish with the sword.


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"Don't you think that I cannot pray to my Father, and he will quickly give me more than twelve legions of angels?


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At that same time Jesus said to the crowd, "Have you come with swords and clubs to take me? Every day I sat with you teaching in the Temple, and you didn't laid hold of me.


text:
"But all this was done, so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all his disciples forsook him and ran away.


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Those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the Scribes and Pharisees had gathered.


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Peter followed him at a distance to the High Priest's Palace, went in, and sat with the servants to see the end.


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Now the Chief Priests, Elders, and the whole council sought false witnesses against Jesus in order to kill him.


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But they didn't find any, yes, even though many false witnesses came forward, they didn't find any. At last two false witnesses came,


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and said, "This [guy] said, «I am able to destroy the Temple of God and to rebuild it in three days."


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Then the High Priest stood up and said to him, "Aren't you going to answer what these witness against you?"


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But Jesus remained quiet. The High Priest answered and said to him, "I put you under oath by the Living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God."


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Jesus said to him, "You have said it. Nevertheless, I say to you, «Later on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven."


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Then the High Priest tore his clothes saying, "He has blasphemed; what need to we have of any further witnesses? See now. You have heard his blasphemy.


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Meanwhile Peter sat outside in the palace and a servant girl came to him saying, "You were also with Jesus of Galilee."


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After he had gone out to the main door, another servant girl saw him and said to them who were there, "This [guy] was with Jesus of Nazareth, too."


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After a while they who stood around came to him and said to Peter, "Surely you are also one of them, for your speech gives you away."


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Then Peter remembered the word of Jesus which said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.


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When morning arrived, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to kill him.


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Then Judas, who had betrayed him, after seeing he was condemned, regretted it, and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,


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saying, "I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood." They replied, "What is it to us? That's your problem."


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The chief priest took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasure, because it is the price of blood."


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That which was spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet was then fulfilled, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of his value, whom the Children of Israel did value.


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Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And Jesus said to him, "You speck [the truth]."


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Now at the feast the governor was in the habit of releasing to the people a prisoner whom they wanted.


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Therefore when they were gathered together Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want for me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?"


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When he had sat down on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Don't have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him."


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But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas and kill Jesus.


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The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They said, "Barabbas."


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Pilate said to them, "What will I then do with Jesus who is called Christ?" All said to him, "Let him be crucified."


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The governor said, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted out even more, saying, "Let him be crucified."


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When Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere, but that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person. Now it is your problem."


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Then he released Barabbas to them, and after having Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be crucified.


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Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the common hall and gathered the whole squad of soldiers to him.


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After braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand, then they bowed the knee before him and made fun of him saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"


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After they had made fun of him, they took the robe off him and put on his own clothes and led him away to crucify him.


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They crucified him and divided up his clothes, throwing lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, "They divided up my clothes among them, and they threw lots on my clothing."


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They set up [a sign] over his head of his accusation, written, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."


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And they were saying, "You who destroys the Temple and rebuilds it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross."


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"He saved others; he cannot save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.


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"He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, «I am the Son of God.'"


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Immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a stick, and gave him a drink.


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Then look! The veil of the Temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom, the earth shook, and the rocks broke.


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Now when the centurion and those with him guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that happened, greatly feared, saying, "Truly, this was the Son of God."


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Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's children.


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When evening came, a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, came there; he was also a disciple of Jesus.


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and laid it in his own tomb, which he had cut out in the rock, rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and left.


text:
Now the next day following the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate.


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They said, "Sir, we remember that the deceiver said, while he was alive, "After three days, I will rise again."


text:
"Therefore give an order that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and take him away, and then say to the people, "He is risen from the dead," so the last fraud will be worse than the first."


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After the Sabbath was over as it began to get light into the first of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.


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But look! There was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord came down from heaven, came over, rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.


text:
The angel began to speak and said to the women, "Don't be afraid, for I know that you look for Jesus, who was crucified.


text:
"Go quickly, tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and look, he goes ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Look, I have told you."


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They left quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and they ran to bring his disciples the news.


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As they went to tell his disciples, look, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice." They came, held on to his feet, and worshiped him.


text:
Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid. Go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and they will see me there."


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Now as they were on their way--look!-- some of the guard came into the city and reported all the things that happened to the chief priests.


text:
When they were gathered together with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave a lot of money to the soldiers, Mat 28:13 saying, "Say this: «His disciples came by night and stole him while we slept.'


text:
So they took the money and did as they were taught. This saying is commonly reported among the Jews to this day.


text:
"Therefore go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.


text:
"Teaching them to carefully attend to everything whatever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world." Amen.


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As it is written in the prophets, "Behold! I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you."


text:
The voice of one calling out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths level."


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John was baptizing in the wilderness and preaching "The Baptism of Repentance" for the remission of sins.


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All the land of Judea and Jerusalem went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.


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John was dressed in camel hair and a wide belt of leather around his hips, and he ate locusts and wild honey.


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He preached saying, "There comes after me one mightier than I. I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen the ties of his shoes."


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And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.


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In those days in came about that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.


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Immediately on coming out of the water, he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove coming down on him.


text:
He was there in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to him.


text:
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,


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Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, because they were fishermen.


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When he had gone a little further from there, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in the ship mending their nets.


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Immediately he called to them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the ship with the servants and followed him.


text:
They were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one who had authority and not like the Scribes.


text:
In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean spirit; he screamed out, Mar 1:24 "Leave us alone, what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God."


text:
They were all shocked, so much so that they questioned among themselves saying, "What thing is this?


text:
What new teaching is this? Because [it is] with authority he commands even unclean spirits, and they obey him."


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As soon as they came out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.


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He came and took her by the hand and helped her up; immediately the fever left her, and she served them.


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That evening as the sun was setting, they brought all who were sick to him and those possessed with devils.


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He healed many who were sick from various diseases and cast out many devils, but he didn't allow the devils to speak, because they knew him.


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In the morning rising up early way before daylight, he left, went to a private place, and prayed there.


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And he said to them, "Let us go into the next towns so that I can preach there also, for that's the reason I came."


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Then a leper came to him, pleading with him and kneeling down before him saying to him, "If you choose to, you can make me clean."


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Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I choose to, be clean."


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and said to him, "Make sure you say nothing to any one, but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses command, for a testimony to them."


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But he left and started publicly announcing it a lot and telling everyone the account, so much so that Jesus could no more openly enter the city but was outside in desolate places, but they came to him from everywhere.


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Immediately many gathered together, so much so that there was no room to hold them, no, not so much as around the door, and he preached the word to them.


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When they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. When they had broken through it, they let down the bed on which he laid.


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Immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking this in themselves, he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?


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"Which is easier to say to the paralyzed, «Your sins are forgiven' or to say, «Get up and pick up your bed and walk?'


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"So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins-he says to the paralyzed-


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Immediately he got up, picked up his bed, and left in front of them all, so that all were in shock and glorified God saying, "We never saw anything like this."


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As he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax collector's office and said to him, "Follow me." He got up and followed him.


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And it came about that (as Jesus and his disciples sat to eat in [Levi's] house) many tax collectors and sinners sat together with Jesus and his disciples (for there were many who followed him).


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When the Scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, "How is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"


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When Jesus heard, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."


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The disciples of John and of the Pharisees routinely fasted, and they came and said to him, "Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don't?"


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Jesus said to them, "Can the bridegroom's friends fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.


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"But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.


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"Also no one sews a piece of new cloth on an old garment, else the new piece, that filled the hole, tears away from the old, and the tear is made worse.


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"And no one puts new wine into old skins, else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine spills and the skins destroyed. New wine must be put into new skins."


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Next he went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples started, as they were going through, to pull off the heads of grain.


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And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him?


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"How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the High Priest and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave to those who were with him also."


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And he said to them, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or kill?" But they remained silent.


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And after he had looked around on them with anger, grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was fully restored, even as the other.


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Then the Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might kill him.


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But Jesus withdrew himself along with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him and also from Judea,


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Jerusalem, Idumea, the other side of Jordan, and those around Tyre and Sidon, a very large crowd. When they had heard what great things he did, they came to him.


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He spoke to his disciples that a small ship should be ready for him, because of the multitude, lest they crowd him,


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for he had healed many, so that they, as many as had diseases, pressed around him, so they could touch him.


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And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him and shouted, "You are the Son the God,"


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James, the son of Zebedee and John, the brother of James, and he surnamed them Boanerges, which means, the sons of thunder;


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Andrew; Philip, Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite,


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The Scribes who came from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub, and he casts out devils by the prince of devils."


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"No one can enter a strong man's house and seize his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man, then he can plunder his house.


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"Truly I say to you, «All sins will be forgiven the sons of men and blasphemies as many as they will blaspheme.


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"But the one who will blaspheme the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is in danger of eternal damnation."


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And the multitude sat around him and said to him, "Look, your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."


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He began teaching again by the sea shore and a great multitude gathered near him, so he got into a ship and sat in the sea while the whole multitude was next to the sea on land.


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and it happened, as he sowed, some fell by the roadside and the birds of the air came and ate it up.


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"Some fell on stony ground where it didn't have much dirt; immediately it sprang up, because he wasn't deep enough in the dirt,


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"Others fell on good ground and yielded fruit that sprang up and increased. It brought forth some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred."


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And he said to them, "To you it is given to know the mystery about the Kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all these things come [to them] in parables,


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so that seeing they see, yet not really see, and hearing they hear, yet not understand, so perhaps they should be converted and their sins should be forgiven them."


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And he said to them, "Don't you see what this parable means? So how will you understand any parable?


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"These are those who are by the roadside where the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.


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yet have no root in themselves and only endure a short time. Afterward when distress or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.


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but the distractions of this world, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.


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"These are those who sown on good ground, they hear the word, receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred."


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And he said to them, "Is a candle brought out to be put under a basket or under a bed, isn't it to be set on a candlestick?


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"For there is nothing hid which will not be clearly seen, neither anything be kept secret, but that it will be widely known.


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And he said to them, "Watch what you hear; [for] with what you measure, it will be measured to you, and to you who hear will more be given.


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"For he who has, to him will be given, and he who doesn't have, from him will taken even that what he has."


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and should sleep at night and rise at day, and the seed sprout and grow up, [but] he doesn't know how.


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"For the earth brings forth fruit by itself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full of grain in the ear.


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"And when the fruit is ready to yield, immediately he sends out the sickle, because the harvest stands ready."


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"It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is sown in the ground, is least of all the seeds that are in the ground,


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but when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out great branches, so that the birds of the air may roost under its shadow."


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But outside of parables he didn't speak to them, but when they were alone, he explained all to his disciples.


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And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him, since he was in the ship. There were also other little ships with him.


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But he was in the back of the ship asleep on a cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, "Master, aren't you concerned that we are dying?"


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He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace, be still." Then the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.


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And they were extremely afraid and said to one another, "What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"


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For he had often been bound with foot shackles and chains, and the chains had been shattered to pieces by him, nor could anyone tame him.


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Every day and night he was in the mountains and in the tombs screaming and cutting himself with stones.


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and screamed out with a loud voice and said, "What are you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the most high God? Swear in God's name that you won't torture me."


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Right away Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits went out and entered the pigs. Then the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea-there were about two thousand-and drowned in the sea.


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Those who fed the pigs ran away and told [this] in the city and in the country; then they went out to see what it was that had happened.


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They came to Jesus and saw the one who was possessed with the devils and had the "Legion", sitting, dressed, and in his right mind, and they were afraid.


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And those who observed this told them how it happened to him who was possessed with the devils and what happened to the pigs.


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And when he got into the ship, he who had been possessed with the devils, plead with him, so that he might be with him.


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But Jesus didn't allow him instead said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and had compassion on you."


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He left and started telling everyone in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done to him; and all marveled.


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When Jesus had passed over again by ship to the other side, a lot of people gathered around him, and he was near the sea.


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earnestly pleading with him saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so she may be healed, then she will live."


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and had suffered many things from many physicians, and had spent everything that she had, yet was not any better but instead grew worse.


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Immediately that fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the plague.


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But Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that miraculous power had gone from him turned around in that crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"


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And the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened in her, came and prostrated before him and told him all the truth.


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He said to her, "Daughter, your faith, has made you well; go in peace and be healed from your plague."


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While he still spoke, there came one from the synagogue ruler's house who said, "Your daughter is dead; why trouble the Master any further?"


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As soon as Jesus heard the message, which was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid, just believe."


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Then he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw the uproar and those who cried and loudly wailed.


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When he had come in, he said to them, "Why all this uproar and sobbing? The girl is not dead just sleeping."


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They derisively laughed at him, but after he had put them all out, he took the father and mother of the girl and those who were with him and went into the place where the girl was lying.


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Then he took the girl by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cumi" which is-being interpreted-"Little girl, I say to you, get up."


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Immediately the girl got up and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were bewildered with great astonishment.


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And he strictly ordered them that no one should know about it and told them that something should be given to her to eat.


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When the Sabbath had arrived, he began to teach in the synagogue and many hearing were amazed saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what wisdom is given to him that even such mighty works are done through his hands?


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"Isn't this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joseph, Judah, and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" They were offended because of him.


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But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his home area and among his own relatives and his own family."


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He called for the twelve and started sending them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.


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He gave orders that they should take nothing for their journey, except for a walking stick, no bag for provisions, no food, no money in a belt,


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and whosoever will not welcome you nor listen to you, when you leave there, shake off the dusk under your feet as a testimony against them. Truly I say to you that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that city."


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King Herod heard [about him]--for his name had spread around-and he said that John the Baptist had risen from the dead, that's why miracles are at work in him.


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For Herod himself had sent, seized John and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her.


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for Herod feared John knowing that he was a just man and holy, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things and gladly heard him.


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But when a convenient day had come [and] Herod on his birthday made a feast for his lords, high-ranking officers, and foremost citizens of Galilee.


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And the daughter of this Herodias came in, danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him; the king said to the young woman, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."


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She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist."


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She came in immediately with haste to the king and asked saying, "I want you to give me as soon as possible on a plate the head of John the Baptist."


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The king was grieved, [yet] for his oath's sake and for those who sat there with him, he would not refuse her.


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Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought, and [the executioner] left, beheaded him in the prison,


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brought his head on a plate, and gave it to the young woman, and the young woman gave it to her mother.


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The apostles gathered together near to Jesus and told him everything, what they had done, and what they had taught.


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And he said to them, "You go by yourselves into a solitary place and relax awhile," for many were coming and going, and they had no time to even eat.


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And the people saw them leaving and many knew him and ran on foot from out of all the cities, outpaced them, and came together to him.


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And when Jesus came out, he saw many people and was moved with compassion for them, because they were as sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them many things.


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When the day was nearly over, his disciples came to him and said, "This is an solitary place, and now the hour is getting late.


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"Send them away, so that they may go into the surrounding area and into the villages and buy bread for themselves, because they have nothing to eat."


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He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Should we go and buy two hundred denarii's worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"


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He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they knew, they said, "Five plus two fish."


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When he had taken the five loaves and two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed, divided the loaves, and gave to his disciples to set before them, and the two fish he divided among them all.


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Immediately he made his disciples get into the ship and go to the other side towards Bethsaida, while he sent the people away.


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And he saw them struggling in rowing, for the wind was against them. Around the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea and would have passed them,


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For they all saw him and were afraid. Immediately he talked to them and said to them, "Cheer up; it is I; don't be afraid."


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He climbed up to them into the ship; the wind stopped, and in themselves they were absolutely stunned beyond measure and marveled.


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and ran through the whole region and started to carry those who were sick on mats to where they heard he was.


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And whenever he entered villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets and begged him, in order that they might touch only the edge of his clothes, and as many as touched him were made well.


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For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands rubbing them with the fist holding to the tradition of the elders.


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And [after coming] from the market, they do not eat unless they wash. There are many other things that they have received and hold to like washing of cups, pots, brass vessels, and tables.


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Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, "Why don't your disciples follow the tradition of the elders, instead of eating with unwashed hands?"


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He answered and said to them, "Isaiah has prophesied full well about you hypocrites, just as it is written, «This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.


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"For in laying aside the commandment of God, you hold on to the traditions of men like the washing of pots and cups and many other similar things you do."


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And he said to them, "How well you reject the commandment of God, so that you may keep your own tradition.


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"For Moses said, «Honor your father and mother» and «whoever curses father or mother, let him come to an end by death.»


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"But you say, «If a man says to his father or mother, "Corban", that is, «a gift;» which is, that which you want me to help you is given to God."


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"So making the word of God annulled through your tradition, which you have handed down. And many such things you do."


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"There is nothing from the outside of man entering him can defile him, instead the things which come out of him are what defile the man.


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And he said to them, "Are you also without understanding? Don't you catch on that whatever enters a man from the outside cannot defile him?


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"Because it doesn't enter his heart but his stomach and goes out in the toilet?" [In saying this Jesus] made all foods ceremonially clean.


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"For from within, out of the heart of people, comes evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,


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And from there he got up and went into the area of Tyre and Sidon. He entered a house and didn't want anyone to know about it, but he couldn't be hidden.


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This woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him that he would throw this devil out of her daughter.


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But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."


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Again leaving the area of Tyre and Sidon, he came to the Sea of Galilee by way of the area of Decapolis.


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And they brought to him one who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they pleaded with him to put his hand on him.


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He took him aside away from the multitude and put his finger into his ears, spit, and touched his tongue.


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He ordered them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, the more they told it.


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They were astonished beyond measure saying, "He has done everything well; he make both the deaf to hear and the one who couldn't talk able to speak."


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In those days, when there was a very large multitude, they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,


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"I have compassion on this crowd, because they have now been with me three days and have had nothing to eat,


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and if I send them away fasting to their homes, they will get exhausted on the way, for some of them have come from far away."


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He ordered the people to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, then broke [the loaves] and gave to his disciples to set before them, and they did set it before the people.


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The Pharisees came out and started questioning him, seeking from him a sign from heaven. They were tempting him.


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And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you there will no sign be given to this generation."


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Now [the disciples] had forgotten to take bread; neither did they have any in the ship with them except one loaf.


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And he strongly warned them, "Look out, beware, of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."


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When Jesus knew about it, he said to them, "Why did you discuss how that you have no bread? Don't you understand yet, or is your heart still hard?


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"After I broke up the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you pick up?" They said to him, "Twelve."


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"And after the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you pick up?" And they said, "Seven."


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And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town. After he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.


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After that he put hands on his eyes again and made him look up, and he was restored and saw every one clearly.


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He sent him away to his house saying, "Do not go into the town or talk about it to anyone in the town."


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Jesus and his disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea, Philippi, and along the way he asked his disciples saying to them, "Whom do people say that I am?"


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And he said to they, "But who do you say I am?" And Peter answered and said to him, "You are the Messiah."


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He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and after three days rise again.


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But after he had turned around and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter saying, "Get behind me, Satan, for you are not thinking about the things of God but the things of men."


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After he had called the people along with his disciples, too, he said to them, "Whosoever has made up his mind to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and go together with me.


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"For whosoever makes up his mind to save his life, will lose it, but whosoever will lose for my sake and the gospel's, will save it.


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"Therefore whosoever will be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."


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And he said to them, "Truly I say to you that there will be some standing here who will not taste of death until they have seen the Kingdom of God come in power."


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Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up into a high mountain just by themselves and completely changed in front of them.


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His clothes started shining, exceedingly white like [sun shining on] snow, like no bleach on earth can whiten them.


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Peter started talking and said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three shelter tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."


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Then there was a cloud that overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."


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As they came down the mountain, he strictly ordered them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until the Son of Man was risen from the dead.


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He answered and told them, "Elijah is truly coming first and restores all things. So why is it written about the Son of Man that he must suffer many things and be rejected as being worth nothing?


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"But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him."


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Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Master, I have brought to you my son, who has a spirit that makes him unable to talk.


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"And wherever he takes him, he convulses him, then he foams and gnashes with his teeth and totally wears out. I spoke to you disciples so they would throw him out, but they couldn't."


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He answered him and said, "O faithless generation. How long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring him to me."


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Then they brought him to [Jesus], and when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and rolled around foaming.


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And [Jesus] asked his father, "How long ago is it since this happened to him?" And he said, "From infancy."


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"And often it throws him into the fire or the water to destroy him, but only if you can do something, have compassion on us and help us."


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When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit saying to him, "You spirit who makes him unable to talk or hear, I command you, come out of him and never again enter him."


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And [the spirit] screamed and convulsed [the child] severely, then came out of him. The child was like one who was dead; even many said, "He is dead."


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For he taught his disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, they will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise the third day."


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Then he came to Capernaum, and since he was in the house he asked them, "What was it that you were bickering among yourselves on the way?"


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Then he sat down and called the twelve and said to them, "If any man desires to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all."


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Then he took a child and set him in the middle of them, and when he had picked him up in his arms, he said to them,


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"Whosoever will receive a child like this in my name, receives me, and whosoever will receive me, doesn't receive me but him who sent me."


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John answered him saying, "Master, we saw someone casting out devils in your name, but he doesn't follow us, so we prevented him, because he didn't follow us."


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But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for there is no one who will do a miracle in my name who can speak evil of me.


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"For whosoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.


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"Whosoever will offend one of [these] little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him that a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.


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"And if your hand offends you, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go into hell, into the fire that never will be quenched.


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"And if your foot offends you, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, into the fire that never will be quenched.


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"And if your eye offends you, pull it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell fire.


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"Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season with it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."


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From there he got up and went to the region of Judea on the far side of Jordan, and the people traveled with him again, and as his customarily did he taught them once more.


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And the Pharisees came to him an asked him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife." They were tempting him.


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He said to them, "Whoever will divorce his wife and marry someone else, commits adultery against her.


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Then they brought young children to him, so he could touch them, but his disciples rebuked those who brought them.


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But when Jesus saw this, he was very displeased and said to them, "You allow the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the Kingdom of God.


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"Truly I tell you whosoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it."


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And as he was going on the road, someone came running and kneeled before him and asked him, "Good master, what should I do, so that I may inherit eternal life?"


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"You know the commandments, «Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat [others], honor your father and mother.»


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Then Jesus looking at him closely, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing, go your way, sell as much as you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, take up your cross, and follow me."


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Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God."


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The disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus started again to speak and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God."


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It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."


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Jesus looking at them said, "With men [this is] impossible but not with God, for with God all things are possible."


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Jesus answered and said, "Truly I say to you there is no man who has left family, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, or land for my sake and the gospel's,


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but that he will receive a hundredfold now in this time houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands along with persecution, and in the world to come, eternal life.


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Then on the road going to Jerusalem, Jesus went ahead of them. They were shocked, and as they followed him, they were afraid. Again he took the twelve and started to tell them what things were going to happen to him.


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"Look, we are going to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles.


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James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, "Master, we want you to do something for us, whatever we ask."


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They said to him, "Grant us that we may sit-one on you right hand and the other on you left hand-in your glory."


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But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink from and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"


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And they said to him, "We can." And Jesus said to them, "You will truly drink from the cup that I drink from, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with,


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but to sit on my right hand and my left hand is not mind to give. They will be given to those for whom it is prepared."


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But Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that those who seem to rule over the Gentiles control them, and their great one exercise authority over them.


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"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."


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Then they came to Jericho, and as he left Jericho with his disciples and a large number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat alongside the highway begging.


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And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he started shouting, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."


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Jesus stopped and commanded to summon him. They summoned the blind man saying to him, "Cheer up, get up, he's calling for you."


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Jesus started to speak saying to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "Lord, that I can see again."


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Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.


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When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent out two of his disciples.


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And said to them, "Go your way into the village in front of you, and as soon as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat, untie him and bring him.


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"If any one says to you, «Why are you doing this?» Tell them that the Lord has a need for him, and immediately he will send him here."


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They left and found the colt tied by the outside door in a place where two roads meet, and they untied him.


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And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut down branches off the trees and spread them on the road.


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Both those who went before and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!


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"Blessed be the kingdom of our father David which comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest."


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Then Jesus entered Jerusalem, then into the temple, and after he had looked around at everything, now that evening had come, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.


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Seeing a fig tree away off having leaves, he came hoping if possible he might find some on it. But when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not time for figs yet.


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Jesus responded saying to it, "May no one eat your fruit from now on and forever." And his disciples heard it.


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They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus went into the temple and started throwing out those who sold and bought in the temple. Then he overturned the money changers' tables and the benches of those who sold doves.


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He taught saying to them, "Isn't it written, «My house will be called by all nations the House of Prayer?» But you have made it a den of thieves."


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The scribes and chief priests heard about it and plotted how they could kill him, but they were afraid of him because the people were astonished by his teaching.


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Peter remembering [what had happened the day before] said to him, "Master, look the fig tree which you cursed is withered."


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"Truly I say to you that whosoever will tell this mountain, «Take up yourself and throw yourself into the sea,» and will not doubt in his heart but believe that those things which he has said will happen, he will have whatever he said.


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"Therefore I tell you: Whatever things you desire-when you pray-believe that you will get them, and you will have them.


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"When you stand praying if you have anything against anyone forgive them, so that you Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your wrongs.


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Again they came to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and elders came to him,


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and said to him, "By what authority do you do these things, and who gave you this authority to do these things?"


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Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you one question, and you answer me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.


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They reasoned among themselves saying, "If we will say «From heaven,» then he will say, «Why don't you believe him then?»


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"But if we will say, «Of men'...?» They feared the people, for all considered John to be truly a prophet.


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So they answered and said to Jesus, "We don't know." Then Jesus answered saying to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."


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And he started to speak to them in parables, "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, and excavated a place for the winepress. He also built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and journeyed to a far country.


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"At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenant farmers, so that he might receive from the them of the produce of the vineyard.


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"Again he sent another servant to them, they stoned him and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.


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"And again he sent another; they killed him. Many others [were also sent]; some they beat, and some they killed.


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"Yet having therefore one son, his dearly beloved, he sent him also, the last, to them saying, «They will reverence my son.»


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"But those tenant farmers said among themselves, «This is the heir; come on, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.»


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"Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, destroy the tenant farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.


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"Have you not read this Scripture: The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.


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They sought to seize him but feared the people, for they were aware that he had spoken the parable against them. They left him and went their way.


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When they had come, they said to him, "Master, we know that you are true and not preferential about anyone, for you do not pay special attention to anyone's appearance but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give taxes to Caesar or not?


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"Should we give, or should we not give?" But he, seeing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you tempt me? Bring me a penny, so that I can see it."


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They brought it. Then he said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's."


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Jesus replied saying to them, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him.


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"Master, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother died, leaving his wife, and leaving no children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up descendants for his brother.


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"In the resurrection, therefore, when they will rise, whose wife will she be of them, for the seven had her to wife?"


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Jesus replied saying to them, "Isn't this the reason you are wrong? For you don't know the Scriptures, or the power of God.


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"For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels who are in heaven.


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"Regarding the dead in that they rise, haven't you read about the bush in the book of Moses. How God spoke to him saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?


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One of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, "Which is the first of all commandments?"


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Jesus answered him, "The first of all commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,


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"And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is first commandment.


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"The second is like this: You must love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandments greater than these."


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And the scribe said to him, "Very good, Master, you have said the truth, for there is one God, and there is none other but him,


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and to love him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."


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When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." After that no one dared ask him anything.


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While he taught in the temple, Jesus started to speak and said, "How is it that the scribes say that Messiah is the Son of David?


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"For David himself said, by the Holy Spirit, «The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.»


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And he said to them in his instruction, "Beware of the scribes who love to walk around in stately clothing and love greetings in the marketplaces,


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and sitting in the seats for the highest ranking in the synagogues and places of highest honor at feasts,


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who devour widows' houses, and for pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater damnation."


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Jesus sat in front of the treasury and watched how the people tossed money into the treasury box, and many, who were rich, tossed in a lot.


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He called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I say to you, that this poor widow has tossed in more than all those who have tossed [money] into the treasury box.


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"For all of them tossed in out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty tossed in everything she had, yes all her living."


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As he left the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Master, look what stones, what buildings!"


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Jesus answered and said to him, "You see all these great buildings? There will not be one stone on top of another that will not be thrown down."


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As he sat on the Mount of Olives facing the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,


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"Tell us, when will these things happen? What will the sign be when all these things will be fulfilled?"


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"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don't be troubled, for such it must be, but the end is not yet.


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"For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These are the beginning of sorrows.


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"But you watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils and in synagogues. You will be beaten, and you will be brought before rulers and kings on account of me, for a testimony to them.


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"But when they take you away and put you in prison, don't worry about what you will say, neither go over it in your mind ahead of time will you will say, but speak whatever will be given you at that time, for it is not you who speaks but the Holy Spirit.


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"Brother will betray brother to death, and father the son, and children will rise up against parents and will cause them to be killed.


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"You will be hated by all, because of my name, but the one who endures to the end, that same will be saved.


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"But when you see «The Abomination of Desolation» spoken by Daniel the Prophet, standing where it must not-let him who reads understand-then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.


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"And let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter it to take anything out of his house.


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"For in those days there will be affliction such as never was since creation-which God created-up to that time, nor never will be.


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"Unless the Lord shortens those days, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom he has chosen, he has shortened those days.


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"Then if any one will say to you, «Look! Here is Christ,» or «Look! He is there;» don't believe him.


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"For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.


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"And in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light.


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"Then he will send his angels and will gather his elect together from the four winds from the farthest most part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.


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"Now learn the parable of the fig tree. When her branch in still tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer in near.


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"But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, no, not even the angels who are in heaven, nor the Son, only the Father.


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"[For the Son of Man is] like a man taking a far journey, who left his home and delegated authority to his servants, to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.


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"Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house comes, at evening, at midnight, at the rooster's crowing, or in the morning.


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Two days later was the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and scribes sought how they could get take him by deceit and kill him.


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And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat to eat, a woman came having an alabaster flask of ointment of very expensive, pure spikenard, and she broke the flask and poured it out on his head.


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There were some there who got angry inside themselves and said, "Why was this waste of perfumed oil made?"


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"For it could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor." And they got really angry with her.


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"For you will always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to you can do something good for them, but you don't always have me.


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"Truly I say to you: Wherever this gospel will be preached throughout the whole world, this also what she has done will be mentioned in memorial of her."


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When they heard it, they were very happy and promised to give him money. He sought how he could conveniently betray him.


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The first day of Unleavened Beard, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare, so that you can eat the Passover?"


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He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and there you will meet a man carrying a water pitcher. Follow him.


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"Wherever he goes in, say to the owner of the house, «The master says, "Where is your guest room, where I will eat the Passover with my disciples?»


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His disciples went, came into the city, and found just as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.


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As they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Truly I say to you that one of you, who eats with me, will betray me."


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"The Son of Man truly goes just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had never been born."


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As they ate Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."


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"Truly I say to you that I will drink no more from the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in the Kingdom of God."


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Jesus said to them, "All of you are going to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.


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But Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows two times, you will deny me three times."


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But he spoke with even more boldly, "If I should die with you, I will not deny you in any way." So they all said.


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They then came to a place, which was named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I pray."


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He went forward a little more and dropped to the ground and prayed that if it were possible, this hour might pass from him.


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And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless not what I want, but what you want."


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And he came and found them sleeping and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you keep watch for one hour?"


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"Keep watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is truly willing, but the flesh is weak."


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When he returned he found them sleeping again, for their eyelids were heavy, neither did they know how to answer him.


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He came the third time and said to them, "Sleep now and rest, it is enough for now. The time has come; look! The Son on Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.


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Immediately while he still spoke, Judas, one of the twelve, came along with a large group with swords and clubs. [They came] from the chief priests, scribes, and the elders.


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He who betrayed him had given them a sign, telling them, "Whomever I kiss; that one is him, take him, and lead him away securely."


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One of those who stood there drew a sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.


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Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as if against a thief with swords and clubs to take me?


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"I was with you every day in the temple teaching, yet you didn't take me, but the Scriptures must be fulfilled."


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A certain young man who followed him was there having [only] a linen cloth thrown around his naked body, and the young men grabbed him,


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They led Jesus away to the High Priest. All the chief priests, elders, and scribes were assembled with him.


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Peter followed him for a long way even to the palace of the High Priest, and he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.


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The chief priests and the whole council looked for witnesses against Jesus, in order to have him put to death but found none.


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"We heard him say, «I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and within three days I will build another one made without hands.»


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Then the High Priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Aren't you going to give an answer? What is this which these witness against you?"


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But he remained quiet and gave no answer. Again the High Priest asked him and said to him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?"


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And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven."


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Some started to spit on him, blindfold his face, slug him, and say to him, "Prophesy." The servants slapped him with the palms of their hands.


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And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him and said, "You were with Jesus of Nazareth, too."


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But he denied and said, "I don't know or understand what you are talking about." He went out to the porch, and the rooster crew.


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He denied again. A little while later those who stood by said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. And your way of speaking agrees with it."


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The rooster crew a second time, and Peter remembered the word that Jesus said to him: "Before the rooster crow two times, you will deny me three times". When this thought hit him, he started to cry.


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Right away in the morning the chief priests held counsel with the elders, scribes, and the whole council and bound Jesus with chains, lead him away, and delivered him to Pilate.


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Pilate asked him again saying, "Do you give an answer? Look, how many things they witness against you."


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There was one named Barabbas, bound with chains along with those who had committed murder in the insurrection.


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Pilate answered and said again to them, "What do you want me to do with him whom you call "The King of the Jews?"


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Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" And they shouted even louder, "Crucify him!"


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And Pilate wanting to please the people released Barabbas to them and delivered Jesus, after he had whipped him, to be crucified.


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The soldiers led him away into the hall named Praetorium, and they called together the whole band of soldiers.


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After they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe from him and put his own clothes on him, then they led him out to crucify him.


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Then they forced one, Simon, a Cyrenian-the father of Alexander and Rufus-who passed by, coming out of the country, to bear his cross.


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After they had nailed him on the cross, they separated his clothes and cast lots on them to decide what every man should take.


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And those who passed by insulted him, shaking their heads, and saying, "O, you who would destroy the temple and build it in three days;


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In the same way the chief priests also mocking said among themselves along with the scribes, "He saved others, but he cannot save himself.


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"Let Messiah, the King of the Jews, come down off the cross, so we can see and believe." And those who were crucified with him insulted him.


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At the ninth hour Jesus shouted with a loud voice saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani." Which is interpreted, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"


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And someone ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, stuck it on a reed, and gave him a drink saying, "Let him alone, let's see whether Elijah will come to take him down."


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When the centurion, who stood opposite him, saw that he shouted out this way and gave up his spirit said, "Truly, this man was the Son of God."


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There were also women watching from afar, among them was Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James the less and Joses, and Salome.


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Who, when he was in Galilee, also followed him and ministered to him. Many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem [were also there].


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Joseph of Arimathaea, an honorable counselor, who also waited for the kingdom of God, came and boldly went in to Pilate and begged for the body of Jesus.


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Pilate was surprised if he would already be dead, so calling the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for awhile.


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He bought fine linen and took him down. He wrapped him in the linen and laid him in a tomb, which was hewn out of a rock, and then he rolled a stone over the door of the tomb.


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When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome had bought sweet spices in order that they might come and anoint him.


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and entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side clothed in a long white garment, and they were afraid.


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But he said to them, "Don't be afraid. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him!


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"But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he said to you."


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They left quickly and fled from the tomb, for they were shaking and amazed, neither did they say anything to anyone, for they were afraid.


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Now when [Jesus] had risen, early the first of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.


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Afterwards he appeared to the eleven as they sat to eat and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen.


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"These signs will follow those who believe. In my name will they cast out devils; they will speak with new tongues.


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"They will pick up snakes, and if they drink any poisonous thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well."


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So then after the Lord had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God. 20 They went out and preached everywhere-the Lord working with them-and confirming the message with accompanying miraculous signs. Amen.


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Seeing that many have undertaken to make an orderly account of those things which are fully confirmed among us.


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Just as those who were from the very first were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word passed them down to us.


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It seemed good to me also to write to you in the proper order, honorable Theophilus, since I have an accurate understanding of everything from the very first.


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In the days of Herod, the king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias of the priestly grouping of Abijah; his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.


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They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord--blameless.


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It came about that while he carried out the priest's duties before God in the cycle of his priestly class,


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and according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was burn incense. When he went in the Temple of the Lord


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But the angel said to him, "Don't be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elisabeth will bear you a son. You will call his name John.


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"For he will be great in the Lord's sight. He will not drink wine or strong drink; he will filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.


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"He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn back the fathers' hearts to the children and the stubbornly disobedient to the understanding of the just, to prepare a people ready for the Lord"


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Zacharias said to the angel, "How can I know this realize this, for I am an old man and my wife advanced in years"?


text:
Answering, the angel said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and am sent to speak to you and tell you this happy news.


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"Look, you will be mute and unable to talk until the day that these things will happen, because you didn't believe my words, which will be fulfilled at the right time."


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When he came out, he couldn't talk to them. They figured out that he had seen a vision in the Temple, for he was motioning with his head to them and remained speechless.


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"In this way has the Lord dealt with me in the times in which he looked on [me] to take away my reproach among men."


text:
to a virgin committed to marry a man whose name was Joseph of the family of David. The virgin's name was Mary.


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The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, Highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women."


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When she saw [him], she was troubled by his word and tried to figure out what kind of greeting this was.


text:
"He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.


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The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come over you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore that Holy thing will be called the Son of God.


text:
"And look, your relative Elizabeth; she have also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.


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Mary answered, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word". The angel left her.


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And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting that the baby jumped in her womb and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.


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Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.


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"For, behold, as soon as the sound of your greeting hit my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.


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For he has looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden, for look from now on all generations will call be blessed.


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He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud despite the thoughts of their hearts.


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Her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy on her, and they rejoiced with her.


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Then it came about that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they named him Zacharias after the name of his father,


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A sense of wonderment came on all who lived around them, and all this news was talked about all throughout the hill country of Judea.


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All who heard placed [this] in their hearts saying, "What kind of child will this be?" The hand of the Lord was with him.


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that he would grant to us that we be delivered out of the hand of our enemies and might serve him without fear,


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And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his paths,


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to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."


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The child grew, grew strong in spirit, and was in the deserts until the time of his official appearance to Israel.


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And so it happened in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be taxed.


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Joseph also went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the family and lineage of David.


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And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.


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In that very same area there were shepherds staying in the field at night keeping watch over their flock.


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And look! the angel of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them. They were very afraid.


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The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for, look, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all people.


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And so it happened as the angels were going from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem now and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."


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The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen exactly as it was told to them.


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After eight days went by, for the circumcising of the child, his name was given, Jesus, so named by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.


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After the time of her purification according to the law of Moses was finished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present [him] to the Lord:


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(as it is written in the Lord's law: Every male who opens the womb will be designated holy to the Lord),


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and to offer a sacrifice according to what was explicitly stated in the Lord's law: A pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.


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Look! There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name [was] Simeon, and this same man [was] just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.


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It was revealed by the Holy Spirit to him that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Messiah.


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He came by the Spirit into the Temple and when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, to do to him according to the custom of the law.


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And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "Behold, this [child] is appointed for the fall and rising again of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against.


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"(Yes, a sword will pierce through you own should also) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed".


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There was one, Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was very old and had lived with a husband for seven years from her virginity.


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She was a widow about 84 years old, who didn't leave the temple but served God with fasting and prayers night and day.


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She, coming in at that very time, gave thanks likewise to the Lord and spoke about him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.


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After they had completed every thing according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.


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After they had completed the days, as they returned, the child, Jesus, stayed behind in Jerusalem, but Joseph and his mother didn't know it,


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but they, thinking that he was in the group, went a day's journey, and they looked for him about relatives and friends.


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And so it happened that after three days, they found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors both listening to them and asking them questions.


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When they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us this way? Look, you father and I have looked for you in anguish."


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He said to them, "Why is it that you looked for me? Didn't you know that I must be about my Father's business?"


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He left with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them, but his mother kept all these words in her heart.


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Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate [was] governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother, Philip, tetrarch of Ituraea and the area of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene.


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When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.


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He came into the entire area around Jordan preaching the Baptism of Repentance into the remission of sins,


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as it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah's words, saying, "The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, «Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.


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«Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill leveled. The crooked will be made straight, and rough roads [will be] made smooth,


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Then said he to the crowd that came out to be baptized by him, "O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee the wrath to come?


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"Therefore bring fruits worthy of repentance; don't begin to say inside yourself, «We have Abraham for our father,» for I tell you that God is able to raise children for Abraham from the stones.


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"And now the ax is also laid to root of the trees. Therefore every tree which doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."


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He answered and said to them, "He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do the same thing."


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The soldiers likewise asked him, saying, "What should we do?" He said to them, "Don't bully anyone, nor falsely accuse any. Be content with your pay."


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Since all the people were in state of expectation and all wondered in their hearts about John, if he was or wasn't the Christ, [16] John answered, saying to all, "I, indeed, baptize you with water, but one mightier than I comes whose shoe strap I am not worthy to unloosen, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.


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"Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire."


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But Herod the tetrarch having been rebuked by him, because of Herodias his brother's Philip's wife and for all the evils which Herod had done,


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Now when all the people were baptized, it came about that Jesus also having being baptized and praying, the heaven was opened,


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and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove on him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased."


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And Jesus, himself, starting [his ministry] was about thirty years old and was (as was commonly thought) the son of Joseph, who was [the son] of Heli,


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who was the son of Matthat, who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Jannai, who was the son of Joseph,


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who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Amos, who was the son of Nahum, who was the son of Esli, who was the son of Naggai,


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who was the son of Maath, who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Semein, who was the son of Josech, who was the son of Joda,


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who was the son of Joanan, who was the son of Rhesa, who was the son of Zerubbabel, who was the son of Shealtiel, who was the son of Neri,


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who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Addi, who was the son of Cosam, who was the son of Elmodam, who was the son of Er,


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who was the son of Joshua, who was the son of Eliezer, who was the son of Jorim, who was the son of Matthat, who was the son of Levi,


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who was the son of Simeon, who was the son of Judah, who was the son of Joseph, who was the son of Jonam who was the son of Eliakim,


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who was the son of Melea, who was the son of Menna, who was the son of Mattatha, who was the son of Nathan, who was the son of David,


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who was the son of Jesse, who was the son of Obed, who was the son of Boa, who was the son of Salmon, who was the son of Nahshon,


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who was the son of Amminadab, who was the son of Ram, who was the son of Hezron, who was the son of Pere, who was the son of Judah,


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who was the son of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, who was the son of Terah, who was the son of Nahor,


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who was the son of Serug, who was the son of Reu, who was the son of Peleg, who was the son of Eber, who was the son of Shelah,


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who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Arphaxad, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech,


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who was the son of Mathuselah, who was the son of Enoch, who was the son of Jared, who was the son of Mahalalel, who was the son of Cainan,


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Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.


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[He was] tempted by the Devil for forty days. During that time he ate nothing, and afterward, he was hungry.


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Then the Devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone so that it becomes bread."


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Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written: That man will not live on bread alone but on every word of God."


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Then the Devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant.


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And the Devil said to him, "All this authority, I will give you and their glory, for that has been given to me, and I can give it to anybody I want.


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Jesus answered and said to him, "Get in back of me Satan, for it written: You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him."


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He brought him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,


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and in [their] hands they will hold you up, lest at any time you smash your foot on your on a stone."


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Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and from there his fame spread out through all the surrounding region.


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He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and stood to read.


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A book of the prophet Isaiah was given him, and after he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written:


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The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, restoring sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,


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Then he closed the book, returned to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him.


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All bare witness and were amazed at the gracious words, which came out of his mouth. They said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"


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He said to them, "You will surely say to me this proverb: Physician, heal yourself. Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, also do here in your hometown."


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"But I tell you something true, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut for three years and six months when great famine was through all the land.


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"Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, but none of them were cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."


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They got up and threw him out of the city and led him [involuntarily] to the top of the hill where their city was built so they could throw him down headfirst.


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Now there was a man in this synagogue who had a spirit of an unclean devil, and he shouted out with a loud voice


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saying, "Grr!; what do we have in common? Have you come to destroy us? I know you; who you are: The Holy One of God!"


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Jesus rebuked him saying, "Shut up, and come out of him." After the devil had forcibly thrown him down in the midst of them, he came out of him but didn't hurt him.


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They were all shocked and talked among themselves, saying, "What kind of word is this, for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out?"


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He got up from the synagogue and went into Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a great fever, and they urgently asked him about her.


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Now that the sun was setting, all those who had different diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.


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The devils also went out of many, shrieking and saying, "You are Christ, the Son of God." Rebuking them he didn't let them speak, for they knew that he was Christ.


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When it was daylight, he left and went into a desert place; the people were seeking him, came to him, and kept delaying him, so that he wouldn't leave them.


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But he said to them, "I must preach the Kingdom of God to other cities also, for that's the reason I'm sent out."


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It came to pass that as the people pressed on him to hear the word of God, he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,


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He got into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and asked him to go out a little from the land, and then he sat down and taught the people from the ship.


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Now after he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep part and let down your nets for a fish catch."


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Simon answering said to him, "Master, we have toiled all this night and have taken nothing, nevertheless, at your say so, I will let down the net."


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They motioned to their partners, who were in the other ship, so that they would come and help them. They came and filled both ships, so that they started to sink.


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When Simon Peter saw [this], he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, "Leave me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."


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And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid, from now on you will catch men."


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And so it happened when he was in a certain city, look, a man full of leprosy, who seeing Jesus fell on his face and pleaded with him, saying, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean."


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He reached out his hand and touched him, saying, "I want to, be clean." Immediately the leprosy left him.


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He ordered him, "Tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."


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Instead even more his fame spread widely, and great crowds came together to hear and be healed by him of their sicknesses,


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It came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching (the Pharisees and doctors of the Law were sitting there, who had just come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem) the power of the Lord was [present] to heal them.


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And look, men carrying a man, who was paralyzed, in a bed; they looked for some way to bring him in and to lay [him] before him.


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When they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went on the housetop and let him down through the roofing tile with his bed into the midst in front of Jesus.


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The Scribes and the Pharisees started to talk this over saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, except God only?"


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But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, "Why are you talking this over in your hearts?


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"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (he says to the paralyzed) I say to you: Get up, pick up your bed, and go to your house."


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Immediately he got up in their presence, picked up what he was laying on, and left for his house praising God.


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After these things, he went out and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office, and said to him, "Follow me."


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Levi then made him a great feast in his own house, and there were a large number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.


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But the Scribes and Pharisees complained about this to disciples saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"


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They said to him, "Why do John's disciples often fast and make prayers like those of the Pharisees, but you eat and drink?"


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He said to them, "Can you make the sons of the bridegroom fast as long as the bridegroom is with them?


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"But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and then will they fast in those days."


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Then he also spoke a parable to them, "No one puts a piece of new cloth on old, for then both the new tears away and the piece taken from the new doesn't match the old.


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"Also no one puts new wine into old skins, because the new wine will burst the wineskins, spill, and the wineskins ruined.


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And so it came about on the second Sabbath after the first that he went through the grain fields, and his disciples plucked the grain heads and ate after rubbing them in their hands.


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Jesus answering them said, "Haven't you read as much as this what David did when he was hungry and those who were with him?


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"How he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave to those who were with him, which is unlawful to eat except for only the priests?"


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Then it also came to pass on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught. A man whose right hand was withered was there.


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The Scribes and Pharisees closely watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so they could find a criminal charge against him.


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But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Get up, and stand in the midst." Then he got up and stood in the midst.


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Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing; is it lawful on Sabbath days to do good or evil, to save life or destroy it?"


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And looking around on all of them, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was restored, healthy as the other.


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When it was day, he called his disciples and from them he chose twelve whom he also called apostles.


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He came down with them and stood in the plain, and the group of his disciples along with a great crowd of people from all of Judea, Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.


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He lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.


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"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.


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"Blessed are you, when men will hate you and when they will separate you and will reproach you and throw your name out as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.


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"Rejoice in that day and jump for joy, for, behold, your reward is great in heaven [and] in the same way their fathers did to the prophets.


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"Woe to you who are rich, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.


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"And to the one who smacks you on the cheek, even offer the other, and to the one who takes away your cloak, don't stop [him from taking your] inner garment, too.


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"For if you love those who love you, what benefit is that, for even sinners love those who love them.


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"If you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that, for even sinners also do the same.


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"If you lend [to those] from whom you hope to get paid back, what benefit is that, for even sinners lend to sinners to get paid back the same.


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"But if you love your enemies, do good, and lend (expecting nothing back), your reward will be great and you will be the children of the Highest, for he is kind to the unthankful and the evil.


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"Don't judge, and you won't be judged. Don't condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.


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"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will people give to the fold of your robe [into your lap--edit]. For with the same measure that you measure out, the same will be measured out to you."


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"The disciple is not above his master, but everyone, who is what he should be, will be like his master.


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"Why are you staring at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but can't perceive the chunk of wood that is in your own eye?


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"Or how can you say to your brother, «Brother, let me pull out that speck that is in your eye,' when you, yourself, aren't looking at that chunk of wood that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first throw out that chunk of wood out of your own eye, and then you will clearly see to pull out that speck that is in your brother's eye.


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"For a good tree doesn't bring forth worthless fruit, nor does a worthless tree bring forth high-quality fruit.


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"For every tree is known by its own fruit, for from thorns men don't gather figs or from a bramble bush gather grapes.


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"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil, for the mouth speaks from the abundance in the heart.


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"He is like a man who built a house, dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock. When the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently on that house but couldn't shake it, for it was founded on a rock.


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"But he who hears and doesn't do it, is like a man who without a foundation built a house on the earth. The stream beat vehemently against it, and it immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."


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When he heard of Jesus, he sent the elders of the Jews to him to plead with him that he would come and heal his servant.


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When they came to Jesus, they immediately begged him saying, "He is deserving that you should do this for him.


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So Jesus went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.


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"That's why I didn't think myself deserving either to come to you, but speak a word and my servant will be healed.


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"For I also am a man set under authority having under me soldiers, and I tell one, «Go,» and he goes; to another, «Come,» and he comes; to my servant, ;Do this,» and he does it."


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When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned around and said to the people that followed him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith; no, not [even] in Israel."


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When those, who were sent, returned to the house, they found the servant who had been sick completely well.


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Then it came about on the next day that he went into a city called Nain, and many of his disciples went with him along with many people.


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Now when he came near the city gate, look, there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother; she was a widow. Many people from the city were with her.


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He came and touched the casket, and those who carried him stopped. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up."


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Fear came over all, and they praised God saying, «That a great prophet is risen up among us,' and «That God has visited his people.»


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John calling for two of his disciples sent [them] to Jesus, asking, "Are you he who should come or do we look for another?"


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When the men came to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, «Are you whom we should come or do we look for another?»


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At that very time he cured many of [their] acute sicknesses, chronic sicknesses, evil spirits, and he gave sight to many blind people .


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Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Go your way and tell John the things you have seen and heard. How the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, [and] the gospel is preached to the poor.


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When John's messengers left, he started speaking to the people about John, "What did you go out to see in the wilderness -- a reed shaken by the wind?


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"What did you go out to see--a man clothed in smooth-textured clothing? Look, those who are dressed gorgeously and live in luxury are in king's courts.


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"This is he about whom is written, «Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.»


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"For I say to you, «Among those who are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.»


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"All the people who heard him and the tax collectors, proved God to be right by being baptized with John's baptism.


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"And the Lord said, «To what then can I compare the people of this generation and to what are they like?


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«They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another and saying, «We have played the flute for you, and you have not danced; we have mourned for you, and you have not wept.»


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"The Son of Man comes eating and drinking and you say, «Behold a gluttonous man and a wino, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'


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One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, so he went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat.


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And behold a woman from the city who was a sinner, when she knew that [Jesus] sat to eat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment.


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And stood at his feet behind him weeping. She started washing his feet with tears and wiping them with the hairs of her head. She kissed his feet and anointed [them] with the ointment.


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Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke in himself saying, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, for she is a sinner."


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Jesus replying said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." He said, "Master, [Go ahead and] speak."


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"There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty.


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"When they had nothing to pay, he freely forgave them both. Now tell me, which of them will love him the most?


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Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave the most." [Jesus] replied, "You have judged correctly."


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Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head.


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"You didn't give me a kiss, but his woman, since the time I came in, hasn't stopped kissing my feet.


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"Therefore I say to you, «Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loves little.»


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And it came to pass after that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the good news of the Kingdom of God and The Twelve were with him.


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Certain women, who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,


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and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who gave from their assets to him.


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"A seed planter went out to plant seed, and as he planted seed some fell by the road side. It was trodden on and the birds of the air ate it.


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"Some fell on a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it didn't have enough moisture.


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"Others fell on good ground and sprouted up and bare grains--a hundred times more." After he had said these things, he called out, "He, who has ears to hear, must hear."


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He said, "It is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to others in parables, so that seeing, they might not see and hearing, they might not understand.


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"Those on the road side are those who hear. Then the devil comes and takes away the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.


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"Those on the rock [are those] who when they hear, receive the Word with joy, but these have no root and for awhile believe, but in time of temptation fall away.


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"Those who fell among the thorns are those, who when they have heard, go out, but are choked with the cares, riches, and pleasures of life and bring no fruit to perfect ripeness.


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"But that [seed] on the good ground are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, obey it and bring forth fruit with patience.


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"No one, when he lights a candle covers it with a something or puts it under a bed but sets it on a candlestick, so that those who come in may see the light.


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"For nothing is private, that will not be made publicly known, or kept secret that will not be disclosed and common knowledge.


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"Therefore beware how you hear, for whosoever has, to him it will be given, and whosoever doesn't have, from him it will be taken even that what he seems to have."


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It was then told to him [by some] who said, "Your mother and your brothers are outside wanting to see you."


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He replied and said to them, "My mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it."


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Then it came about on a certain day that he went into a ship with his disciples, and he said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." So they launched.


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But as they sailed, he fell asleep, and a severe windstorm came down on the lake. They were filling with water and starting to be in great danger.


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They came to him, woke him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are going to die." He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they stopped, and there was calm.


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He said to them, "Where is your faith?" Being scared, they wondered, saying to one another, "What kind of man is this, for he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."


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When he got on land, a certain man from the city met him, who had devils for a long time. He wore no clothes and didn't live in any house, instead lived in the tombs.


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But then he saw Jesus and started yelling. He fell in front of him and said with a loud voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? I beg you, do not torment me?"


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Now [he had said this because] he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and he was kept tied up by chains on his hands and feet, but broke the chains and was driven by the devil into the wilderness.


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Jesus demanded from him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion," because many devils had entered him.


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There was present a large herd of pigs feeding on the mountainside, they plead with him, that he would allow them to enter them. He let them.


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Then the devils left the man and entered the pigs, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and drowned.


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When those feeding them saw what happened, they ran off, went into the city, and told [it] in the city and country.


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Then they went out to see what happened, came to Jesus, found the man from whom the devils had left sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind and they were scared.


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Then the whole crowd from all the area of Gadarenes, begged him to leave them, for they were frozen with great fear. He went up into the ship and returned.


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Now the man out of whom the devils had left, begged him that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him back saying,


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"Go back to your own house and show all the great things God has done to you." He went back and spread widely throughout the whole city, how great things Jesus had done for him.


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So it happened that when Jesus had returned the people welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.


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Behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was rule of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus' feet and plead with him that he would come into his house.


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For he had only one daughter about twelve years old, and she lay there dying. As he went the people crowded him.


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A woman having a flowing drainage of blood for twelve years. She had spent all her living on physicians, and she could never be healed by any.


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Jesus said, "Who touch me?" When everyone denied [it], Peter and those who were with him said, "Master, the crowd pressing [you] and you ask, «Who touched me?»


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When the woman saw that she couldn't hid, she came trembling and falling down before him, she told him in front of all the people the reason she had touched him and how she was instantly healed.


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While he was still speaking, one came from the synagogue ruler's house telling him, "Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the Master."


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But when Jesus heard, he answered him saying, "Don't be afraid, only believe and she will be made well."


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When he came into the house, he didn't allow anyone to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.


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Her parents were astonished, but he commanded them that they shouldn't tell anyone what had happened.


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Then he called his twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases.


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He said to them, "Don't take anything for your journey, not walking sticks, shepherd's bag, bread, money, or to have two tunics apiece.


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"Whosoever won't receive you, then when you leave that city, shake off the very dust of your feet as a testimony against them."


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Now, Herod, the tetrarch, heard about everything that was done by him, and he was perplexed, because some said that John had raised from the dead.


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Herod said, "I have beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear so much about?" He so badly wanted to see him.


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When the Apostles had returned, they told him everything they had done. He took them, and they went alone into a desert place of a city named Bethsaida.


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The people, when they knew it, followed him, and he hospitably received them, speaking to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.


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When the day was passing, the twelve came and said to him, "Send them away, so that they can go into the towns and surrounding area for lodging and food, for we are here in a desert place."


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But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we would go and buy food for all this people."


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For there was about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."


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Then he took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, broke, and gave to the disciples to give to the people.


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Then it came about as he was alone praying (his disciples were with him). He asked them saying, "Whom do the people say I am?"


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They answering said, "John the Baptist, but others [say] Elijah, and others that one of the old prophets has risen again."


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He said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, chief priest, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day."


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He said to all, "If any will follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me,


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for whosoever will save his life will lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same one will save it.


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"For whosoever will be ashamed of me and my words, the Son of God ashamed of him when he will come in his own glory and [the] Father's and of the Holy angels.


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"But I tell you of a truth, there are some standing here who will not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of God."


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It then happened about eight days later after saying this, he took Peter, John, and James and went up into a mountain to pray,


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But Peter and those who were with him were exceedingly sleepy. When they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.


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And so it happened as they departed from Jesus, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here, so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah," because he didn't know what else to say.


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While he was speaking a cloud came and started to overshadow them, and they were scared as they entered the cloud.


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When the voice was finished, Jesus was found alone. They kept it to themselves and told no one in those days anything which they had seen.


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And it came to pass that on the next day, when they were coming down from the mountain, many people met him.


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And look, a man out of the group shouted, saying, "Master, I beg you, look at my son, for he is my only child.


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"Look, a spirit takes over him, he suddenly shouts out, and it causes him to have seizures with foaming and badly bruising him hardly letting him go.


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Jesus answering said, "O faithless and warped generation, how long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."


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While he was still coming this devil threw him down and threw him into seizures. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.


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They were all in shock at the mighty power of God. But while all were amazed at everything which Jesus did, he said to his disciples,


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"Let these sayings sink deeply into your ears, for the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men."


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But they didn't understand this saying for it was hid from them, so that they shouldn't comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask him about that saying.


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And he said to them, "Whosoever will receive this child in my name receives me, and whosoever will receive me receives him who sent me, for he who is least among you all, the same will be great."


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John answered and said, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in your name, and we forbade him, because he doesn't follow us.


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It came to pass when the time had come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.


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He sent messengers before his face, and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him.


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When James and John, his disciples, noticed it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and burn them up like Elijah did?"


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And so it happened that as they went on the road, a certain [man] said to him, "Lord, I will follow you wherever you go."


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Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have anywhere to lay his head."


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Another also said, "Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go say goodbye to those who are at home at my house."


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Jesus said to him, "No one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God."


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After those things the Lord appointed seventy others also and sent them off two by two before him into every city and place where he himself would come.


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Therefore he said to them, "The harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few; therefore plead to the Lord of the harvest, that he would sent out workers into his harvest.


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"Stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker is worthy of his labor. Do not go from house to house.


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"But into whatever city you enter, and they don't welcome you, then on the way out into that same city say,


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«Even the very dust of your city which in on us, we wipe off against you, nevertheless you can be sure of this one thing that the Kingdom of God has come near you.'


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"Woe to you, Chorzain! Woe to you Bethsaida, for if the mighty miracles had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they would have repented a long time ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.


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"He who hears you, hears me. He who despises you, despises me, and he who despises me despises him who sent me."


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"Look, I give authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will in any way hurt you.


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"Nonetheless don't rejoice in that the spirits are subject to you, instead rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."


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In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, "I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the experts and well educated but revealed to babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in your sight.


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"All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and to whom the Son will reveal him."


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He turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see,


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for I tell you that many prophets and kings have wanted to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear the things which you hear but have not heard them."


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And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him saying, "Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"


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He said answering, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."


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Jesus answering said, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and was surrounded by thieves who stripped him of his clothes, wounded him, and left, leaving him half dead.


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"Now by chance a certain priest came down there on that road. When he saw him, he passed [him] on the other side.


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"Similarly a Levite arriving at that place, came and looked [at him] and passed [him] on the other side.


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"He went up to him, dressed his wounds, pouring oil and wine, then set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.


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"On the next day when he left, he took out two pence, gave [them] to his host, and said to him, "Take care of him; whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come again."


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Now it happened as they traveled that he went into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.


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Martha was too busy with the great amount of serving, came to him, and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me by myself to serve? Tell her therefore that she has to help me."


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"But one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her."


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And so it happened after he was praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray like John also taught his disciples."


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He said to them, "When you pray say, «Our Father, who [is] in the heavens, Holy is your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven so on earth.


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"Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one who is indebted to us, and don't let us fall into temptation, but deliver us out of evil.'"


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He said to them, "Which of you will have a friend and will go to him at midnight and say to him, «Friend, lend three loaves to me,


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"From inside he will answer and say, «Don't trouble me. The door is now shut and my children are with me in bed, I cannot get up and give it to you.'


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"I say to you, Even though he will not get up and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his bold insistence, he will get up and give to him as many as he needs.


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"And I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.


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"For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks, finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.


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"If a son will ask for bread from any of you who is a father, will he give him a stone? If [he ask] for a fish, will he instead of a fish give him a snake?


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"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"


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He was driving out a devil that was unable to talk, and it came to pass when the devil had left, the man was able to speak, and the people were awe stricken.


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But he knowing their thoughts said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined, a family [divided] against a family falls apart.


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"If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say that I drive out devils by Beelzebub.


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"Yet if I by Beelzebub drive out devils, by whom do your disciples drive [them] out? Therefore they will be your judges.


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"But when someone stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes away all his armor from him in which he trusted and divides the stolen property.


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"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, «I will return to my house from which I came out.»


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"So then he goes and takes [with him] seven other spirits more wicked than himself; they enter and live there, and the last state of that person is worse than at first."


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So it came about as he spoke those things, a certain woman of that crowd, spoke out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts from which you nursed."


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When the people had gathered together, he started to talk, "This is an evil generation. They seek for a sign, but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet.


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"The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with the people of this generation, and condemn them, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.


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"The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and they will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater then Jonah is here.


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"No man when he has lit a candle, puts it in a hidden place, nor under a basket but on a candlestick, so that those who come in can see the light.


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"The light of the body is the eye, so then when your eye is sound, your whole body is also full of light, but when [it] is not sound, your body is then full of darkness.


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"If your whole body is therefore full of light, not being part dark, the whole will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle give you light."


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So the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside the cup and plate, but inside of you is full of insatiable greed and wickedness.


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"But woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint, rue, all kinds of herbs yet totally ignore justice and the love of God. These you must do and not leave the other undone.


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"Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the highest seats [of honor] in the synagogues and greetings in the markets.


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"Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like graves which are not obvious, and the men who walk over them are not aware [of them]."


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Then one of the lawyers answered and said to him, "Master, in talking like this you insult us as well."


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He said, "Woe to you lawyers, also, for you load people with burdens grievous to be carried, yet you yourselves don't touch these burdens with one of your fingers.


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"Truly you bear witness that you are pleased with the deeds of your fathers, for they in fact killed them, and you build their sepulchers.


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"Therefore the wisdom of God also says, «I will send them prophets and apostles. Some of them they will kill and persecute.»


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"So that the blood of the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world, will be required of this generation,


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from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias who died between the altar and the Temple. Truly I say to you, «It will be required of the generation.»


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"Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves and have hindered those that were."


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As he said these things to them, the Scribes and Pharisees started to challenge him vehemently and to ply with questions about many things,


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Meanwhile after a huge crowd of people gathered together, so much so that they walked on each other, he started to speak to his disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisee, which is hypocrisy.


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"For there is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, or kept secret that will not be made known.


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"Therefore whatever you have spoken in darkness, will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in a private room will be proclaimed on the housetops.


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"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that have nothing more that they can do.


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"But I will forewarn you whom you must fear: Fear him who after he has killed has power to throw into hell. Yes, I say to you, «Fear him!»


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"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore don't fear you are of more value than many sparrows.


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"Also I say to you, «Whosoever will confess me before people, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.


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"Whoever will speak a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, this will not be forgiven.


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"When they bring you before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, take no thought how or what you will answer or what you will say,


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One of the crowd said to him, "Master speak to my brother, so that he divides the inheritance with me."


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He said to them, "Take heed and beware of the covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he has."


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"He thought within himself, saying, «What will I do, because I have no room where to store my harvest?»


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"So he said, «This is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there will I store all my harvest and my goods.


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«Then I will say to my soul, «Soul, you have a lot of goods laid aside for many years, take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry.»


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"But God said to him, «You fool! Tonight they will call back your soul from you. So then, whose will be your things that you prepared?»


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Then he said to his disciples, "That's why I say to you, «Don't have any troubled thoughts about your life, what will you eat, nor for the body, what [clothes] you will put on.


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"Think about the ravens, for they neither sow or reap, neither have a storehouse or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more better are you than them?


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"Think about the lilies how they grow. They don't work or spin, and yet I say to you that Solomon in all his glory wasn't clothed like one of these.


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"If then God so cloth the wild plants which are today in the field but tomorrow is thrown into the furnace. How much more [clothe] you, O you of little faith?


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"For all these things do the world's peoples seek out, and your Father knows that you have need of these things.


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"Sell what you have and give to the poor; provide for yourselves money bags that do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that never is empty [and] where no thief comes near, nor moth destroy.


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like servants waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding, so that when he comes and knocks, they may open [the door] immediately.


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"Blessed [are] those servants whom the Lord will find watching when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will dress himself and make them sit down for a meal will come out and serve them.


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"If he will come in second watch or comes in the third watch and finds [them] so; blessed are those servants.


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"Know this that if the owner of the house had known what time the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.


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Then the Lord said, "So then who is the faithful and wise steward, whom the lord will make him ruler over his household to give their portion of food at the right time.


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"But and if that servant say in his heart, «My lord delays his coming,» and starts to beat the men and women servants, to eat and drink and to be drunk.


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"That servant's lord will come when they didn't expect and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in two and appoint him his share with the unfaithful.


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"That servant who knew his lord's will but didn't prepare and didn't do according to his will, will be beaten with many [stripes].


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"But he who didn't know yet did commit things worthy of stripes will be beaten with few [stripes], for to whomsoever much is given, from him much will be required, and to whom people have committed much, from him they will ask more.


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"Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? I'm telling you, «Not so.» Instead [comes] division.


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"The father will be divided against the son and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."


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He also said to the people, "When you see a cloud rise from the west, immediately you say, «A shower is coming,» and so it does.


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"You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and earth, but is it that you can't discern this present time?


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"When you go with your adversary to the law officer when you on the way, give diligence so that you may be delivered from him, lest he haul you to the judge and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.


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At that time there were some present who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.


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Jesus replying said to them, "Do you think that these Galileans were greater sinners over all other Galileans, because they suffer such things?


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"Or [how about] those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them. Do you think that they were greater sinners over all men who lived in Jerusalem?


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He also told this parable. "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came and looked for fruit on it but didn't find any.


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"Then he said to the vineyard worker, «Look, I have come for three years looking for fruit on this fig tree and find nothing. Cut it down, and why should it make the ground useless (ineffective, idle, inactive, take up space, etc.).»


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"He answered saying to him, «Lord, leave it alone this year, too, until I will have dug around it and fertilized it.


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And look! There was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years and was so bent over, there was no way she could straighten up.


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When Jesus saw her, he called [her to him] and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your sickness."


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The ruler of the synagogue answered angrily, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. He said to the people, "There are six days for men to work. Come then in those days and be healed, not on the Sabbath Day."


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The Lord then answered him and said, "You hypocrite, doesn't each one of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead [him] to water.


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"Shouldn't this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has tied up, take note, these eighteen years, be untied from this bond on the Sabbath Day."


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After he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed, but all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.


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"It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and tossed into his garden, it grew, became a huge tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches."


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"It is like leaven which a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour until it was completely leavened."


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"Strive to enter in at the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will strongly desire to enter in and will not be able.


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"For once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you start to stand outside and to knock on the door saying, «Lord, Lord open to us,» but he will answer and say to you, «I don't know where you are from.»


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"Then you will start to say, «We have eaten and drank in your presence, and you have taught in our streets.»


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"But he will say, «I tell you, I don't know where you are from.» Depart from me, all workers of iniquity.


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"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, and you driven out.


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That same day certain Pharisees came saying to him, "Get out of here,move on, for Herod is determined to kill you."


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He said to them, "You go and tell that fox, «Look, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I will be finished.»


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"None the less, I must travel today and tomorrow and the following [day], for it not acceptable that a prophet perish except in Jerusalem.


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"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you; how often would I have gathered your children together like a hen does her brood under her wings, but you would not!


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"Look, your house is left to you desolate, and truly I say to you, «You will not see me until it comes when you will say, «Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.''"


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Then it came about as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat food on the Sabbath that they watched him closely.


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Then he answered them saying, "Which of you will have a donkey or ox fall into a pit and will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath?"


text:
He then told a parable to those who were invited, when he saw how they chose the most honored seats, saying to them,


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"When you are invited by any one to a wedding, don't sit down on the most honored chair, lest a more honored man than you is invited by him.


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"He who invited you and him comes to you and says, «Give this man this place,» and you in shame start to take the lowest place.


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"Instead, when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, «Friend, take a more honorable place.» Then you will have the honor in the presence of those who sit at dinner with you.


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Then he also said to him who invited him, "When you make a dinner or supper, don't call your friends, your brethren, nor your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and pay you back.


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"You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, and you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."


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When one of those who sat at the dinner with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is he who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God!"


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He sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, «Come, for all things are now ready.»


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"And they all started to make the some excuse. The first said to him, «I have bought some land, and I have to go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.»


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"Another said, «I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.»


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"So that servant came and reported to his lord these things. Then the master of the house getting angry said to his servant, «Quickly go out into the streets and avenues of the city. Bring in here the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind.


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"Then the lord said to the servant, «Go out into the highways and fence rows and persuade them to come in, so that my house will be filled.»


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"If anyone comes to me and doesn't hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.


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"For which of you intending to build a tower, doesn't sit down first and calculate the cost, to know if he has enough to finish?


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"Lest after he has laid the foundation and not able to finish it, everyone that looks at it will start making fun of him,


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"Or what king, going to wage war against another king, doesn't sit down first and consult where he is able with a thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?


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"It is neither fit for the land or for the dung hill, but men throw it out. He that has ears to hear, must hear."


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"What man among you having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them of them, doesn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and goes after that one that is lost until he finds it?


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"When he comes home, he calls his friends and neighbors, saying to them, «Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.»


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"I say to you that in the same way joy will be in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons, who need no repentance.


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"Or consider what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she loses one piece, doesn't light a candle and sweep the house and diligently until she finds it?


text:
"And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together saying, «Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost.»


text:
"Likewise, I say to you that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."


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The younger of them said to his father, «Father, give me the share of estate that belongs to me.» So he divided his living.


text:
"And not too many days later, the younger son gathered it all and journeyed into a far country. There he wasted his possessions with riotous living.


text:
"Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.


text:
"And when he came to himself, he said, «How many hired servants of my father's have more than enough food, and I die from hunger!


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«I am going to get and go to my father and will say to him, «Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your presence,


text:
"So he got up and came to his father, but when he was still a long ways off, his father saw him, had compassion, ran, embraced his neck, and kissed him.


text:
"The son said to him, «Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.»


text:
"But the father said to his servants, «Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.


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«For this my son was dead but is alive again; he was lost but is found.» So they started to celebrate.


text:
"Meanwhile, his older son was in the field, and when he came and got closer to the house, he heard music and dancing.


text:
"He said to him, «Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has gladly received him safe and sound.»


text:
"But answering he said to his father, «Look, I have served you many years and never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a kid, so that I might celebrate with my friends,


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but as soon as this your son has come who devoured your living with harlots, you have killed the fatted calf for him.»


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"It was right that we should celebrate, and be happy, for this your brother was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found."


text:
Then he also said to his disciples, "There was a certain rich man, who had a household manager, and he was accused by him for wasting his belongings.


text:
"So he called him in and said to him, «What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your managership, for you can't be manager any longer.»


text:
"Then the manager said to himself, «What will I do, for my master is taking the manager's position from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.»


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«I know what I'll do, so that, when I am removed from my manager's position they may receive me into their houses.»


text:
"So he called every one of his master's debtors and said to the first, «How much do you owe my master?»


text:
"And he said, «A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, «Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.»


text:
"The he said to another, «And how much do you owe?» He said, «A hundred measures of wheat.' So he said to him, «Take your bill and write eighty.»


text:
"The master commended the unjust manager, because he had done shrewdly, for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.


text:
"And also I say to you, «Make friends for yourselves by the riches of unrighteousness, so that when you die they may receive you into everlasting habitations.»


text:
"He who faithful in what is least is also faithful in much, and he who is unjust in the least is also unjust in much.


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"Therefore if you didn't prove to be faithful with unrighteous riches, who will trust you with the true [riches]?


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"No servant can serve two masters, for he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches."


text:
So he said to them, "You are those justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts, for what is highly regarded among men is an abomination in God's sight.


text:
"The law and the prophets were until John. Since then the Kingdom of God is preached, and every one uses force to get in.


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"It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one tiny mark of the law to lose authority.


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"Whosoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whosoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.


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"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and ate extravagantly every day.


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"And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at [the rich man's] gate covered with ulcers.


text:
"He longed to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Additionally the dogs came and licked his ulcers.


text:
"And so it came about that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom [paradise]. The rich man also died and was buried.


text:
"In hell being in horrible pain he lifted up his eyes and sees Abraham far away and Lazarus at his side.


text:
"And he shouted and said, «Father Abraham have mercy on me; send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am in horrible anguish in this flame.


text:
" "But Abraham said, «Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus worthless things, but now he is comforted and you are tormented.


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«Beside all this there is a great fixed space, so that those who want to come from here to you cannot, nor can they come to us who want to come from there.'


text:
"He replied to him, «If they won't hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded even if one rose from the dead.»


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Then he said to his disciples, "It is inevitable but that stumbling blocks [to faith] will come, but woe [to him] through whom they come.


text:
"It would be better for him that a millstone were hung around his neck, and he be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.


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"If he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times a day he turns to you saying, «I repent,» you must forgive him."


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The Lord said, "If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you might say to this sycamore tree, «Be uprooted and be planted in the sea,» and it would obey you.


text:
"And which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will soon say to him when he has come in from the field, «Go and sit down to eat?»


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"Won't he instead say to him, «Get everything ready so I can eat, tie your robe up, and serve me until I have eaten and drank, and then you may eat and drink?»


text:
"So in the same way for you, when you have done all those things which you were told to do say, «We haven't done anything special; we only have done what we were obligated to do.'"


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As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers and stood at a distance met him there.


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When he saw [them], he said to them, "Go show yourselves to the priests." It came about that as they went, they were cleansed.


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When he was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, "The Kingdom of God doesn't come with careful observation.


text:
"Nor will they say, «Look over here,» or «Look over there.» for-take note-the Kingdom of God is within you."


text:
Then he said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will want to one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.


text:
"For as the lightning that lightens out of one area of heaven shines to another area of heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day.


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"They ate; they drank; they married wives; they were give in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, then the flood came and destroyed all of them.


text:
"In the same way it was also in the days of Lot. They ate; they drank; they bought; they sold; they planted; they built.


text:
"But the same day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed all of them.


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"In that day he who is on the housetop and his things in the house, must not come down to take it away. He who is in the field, let him similarly not return .


text:
"I tell you in that night there will be two [men] in one bed. One will be taken, and the other will be left behind.


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They answered and said to him, "Where Lord?" He said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered.


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yet because this widow bugging me, I will vindicate her, lest she wear me out by her coming to me all the time.»


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and won't God avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, and yet he bears patiently with them.


text:
"I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"


text:
He told this parable to certain [people] who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on others.


text:
"The Pharisee stood and prayed this way with himself, «God, I thank you that I am not like other men: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.


text:
"The tax collector standing in the distance wouldn't even as much as look up to heaven but beat on his chest saying, «God, be merciful to me a sinner.»


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"I tell you--this man went down to his house justified instead of the other, for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."


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They also brought to him infants, so that he could touch them, but when his disciples saw [this], they rebuked them.


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But Jesus called them and said, "Allow little children to come to me; don't forbid them, for of such in the Kingdom of God.


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"Truly, I say to you [that] whosoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it."


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"You know the commandments: Do no commit adultery; do not kill; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother."


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Now when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, "You still lack one thing: sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me."


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When Jesus saw that he was very sad, he said, "How difficult it will be for those you have riches to enter the Kingdom of God.


text:
"For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.


text:
And he said to them, "Truly I say to you: there is no one who has left family, parents, brothers, wife, or children for the Kingdom of God's sake,


text:
Then he took the twelve and said to them, "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be completed.


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But they didn't understand any of these things, and what he had said was hidden from them, nor did they understand they things that were talked about.


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And it came to pass that as he was coming near Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the road side begging.


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Those in the front rebuked him so he would shut up, but he shouted out so much the more, "Son of David have mercy on me."


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Immediately he received his sight, followed him, glorifying God. When all the people saw [it], gave praise to God.


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He wanted to see Jesus, what he was like, but he couldn't, because of the crowd and because he was short.


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When Jesus came to that place, he looked up, saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, be quick and come down, for I must stay at your house today."


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When they saw [it], they all complained, saying, that he was going to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.


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Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore [to him] fourfold."


text:
While listening to this, he added and spoke a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and because they thought that the Kingdom of God should immediately appear.


text:
And so he said, "A certain noble man went into a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and to return.


text:
"But his citizens hated him and sent a message to him saying, «We do not want this [man] to reign over us.»


text:
"And so it happen that when he returned after he received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants to be called to him whom he had given the money, so that he could know how much every man had gained in business.


text:
"And he said to him, «Well done, you good servant. Because you have been faithful in very little you will have authority over ten cities.»


text:
"And another came saying, «Lord, look [here is] your mina which I have laid aside in a piece of cloth,


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for I was afraid of you because you are a harsh man. You take what you haven't put down and reap what you didn't sow.»


text:
"And he said to him, «I will judge you by your own words of your mouth, you wicked servant. You know that I was a harsh man taking up what I don't put down and reaping what I didn't sow.


text:
"Why didn't you then put my money in the bank, that at my coming back I could have received my own with interest.'


text:
"And he said to those who stood close, «Take the mina from him and give it to him who has ten minas.»


text:
"For I say to you that to every one who has, will be given, and from him who doesn't have, even what he does have will be taken away from him.


text:
"But my enemies who didn't want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me."


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And so it happened when he was near Bethphage and Bethany at the mount called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples.


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He said, "Go into the village in front of you. When you enter you will find a colt tied on which no one has even sat on; loosen him and bring [him here].


text:
"If any one asks you, «Why are you untying him?» Say this to him, «Because the Lord has need of him.»


text:
When he had now come near at the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples started to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.


text:
They said, "Blessed be the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest."


text:
He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these would be quiet, then the stones would immediately shout."


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saying, "If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things [which are] for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes.


text:
"For the days will come to you that your enemies will dig a trench around you and surround you and isolate you completely.


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"They will level you to the ground and your children with you. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn't know the time of your visitation."


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He said to them, "It is written: «My house is the house of prayer,» but you have made it a den of thieves."


text:
He taught daily in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the high ranking people looked for ways to kill him.


text:
Then it happened on one of those days as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, the chief priests, the scribes, with the elders came


text:
and spoke to him saying, "Tell us by what authority you do these things? Who is he who gave you this authority?"


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They talked it over among themselves, saying, "If we will say «from heaven,» he will say, «Why then didn't you believe him?»


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"But if we say, «of men,» all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."


text:
He then started to speak to the people this parable: "A certain man planted a vineyard and rented it to farmers and went into a distant country for a long time.


text:
"In time he sent a servant to the farmers so they would give him the fruit of the vineyard, but the farmers beat him and sent [him] away empty handed.


text:
"Again he sent another servant, and they beat him, too, and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed.


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"Then the lord of the vineyard said, «What will I do? I will sent my beloved son; it may be they will respect him when they see him.»


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"But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned with themselves saying, «This is the heir. Come let us kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.»


text:
"So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. So then what will the lord of the vineyard to them?


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"He will come and destroy those farmers and will give the vineyard to others." When they heard [this], they said, "May it never be."


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And he looked at them closely and said, "What is this then, what is written, «The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner?»


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"Whosoever will fall on that stone will be broken, but on whomever it will fall, it will grind him to powder."


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Then the chief priests and the scribes sought that very hour to lay hands on him, but they feared the people, for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.


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They kept a close eye [on him] and sent out spies, pretending to be righteous, so that they could turn him over to the power and authority of the governor.


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They asked him, saying, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and also you do not show favoritism but truly teach God's way.


text:
Then he said to them, "So then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things which are God's."


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They couldn't catch him in his words in the presence of the people, and they were amazed at his answer and kept silent.


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saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote to us: If any man's brother die, having a wife, without children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.


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but those who will be considered worthy to get to that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither will marry or be given in marriage.


text:
"Neither can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels and the children of God, since they are children of the resurrection.


text:
"Now that the dead are raised even Moses made known at the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.


text:
"Beware of the scribes who like walking around in long robes and love greetings in he markets and the most honorable seat in the synagogues and best places at feasts,


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who forcibly take over widow's houses and for a pretense make long prayers. The same will receive greater damnation."


text:
"For all these have from their excess put into the offerings of God, but she from her extreme poverty has put in all the living that she had."


text:
As some were speaking about the temple (how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts), he said,


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"These things which you see--the days are coming when one stone will not be left on another that will not be thrown down."


text:
So they asked him saying, "Master, when will these things happen, and what sign [will be seen] when these things will happen?"


text:
He replied, "Be alert so that you wouldn't be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, «I am [Christ],» and the time is getting close, therefore don't follow them.


text:
"But when you will hear about wars and disorders, don't be terrified, for these things must first happen, but the end is not immediately."


text:
great earthquakes will happen in various places, terrible epidemics, and terrifying sights will come heaven.


text:
"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute [you], handing you over to synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers because of my name's sake.


text:
"Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of it get out of there, and don't let those in the country go into it [the city].


text:
"But woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing in those days. For there will be great distress in the land and anger on this people.


text:
"They will fall by the edge of the sword, will be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are completed.


text:
"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars. On the earth [there will be] distress of nations, with perplexity, for the sea and the roaring waves.


text:
"Men's hearts failing them because of fear and from the expectation of those things which are coming to the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.


text:
"When these things start to happen, then look up and lift your heads, for your redemption draws near."


text:
"So in the same way, when you see these things happen, know that the Kingdom of God is close at hand.


text:
"Be very careful for yourselves lest at any time your hearts be weighed down by over-indulgence, drunkenness, and the worries in this life, and so that day upon you unexpectedly.


text:
"Therefore be watch carefully and always pray that you may be considered worthy to escape these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man."


text:
In the daytime he was teaching in the Temple, but at night he went out and stayed on the mountain named The Mount of Olives.


text:
He promised and would look for an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude.


text:
He said to them, "Look, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you there, carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he goes into.


text:
"Then you will say to the master of the house, «Where is the guest room where I will eat the Passover with my disciples?»


text:
"For I say to you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God will come."


text:
He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me."


text:
Likewise the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.


text:
He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles rule over them, and those that exercise this authority on them are called benefactors.


text:
"But you are not to be so, but he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who is chief, as he who serves.


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"For which is greater, he who sits to eat or he who serves? Isn't he who sits to eat? But I am among you as he who serves.


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so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."


text:
but I have prayed for you, so that your faith doesn't fail. When you have returned [to me], strengthen you brothers."


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He said to him, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you have denied three times that you know me."


text:
He said to them, "When I sent you without a money bag, food bag, or shoes, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing."


text:
Then he said to them, "But now he who has a money bag, let him take it and in the same way his food bag. He who doesn't have a sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.


text:
"For I say to you that this is what is written must still be completed in me, "He was reckoned among the transgressors," for the things concerning me have an end."


text:
Then he came out and went, as he usually did, to the mount of Olives, and his disciples also followed him.


text:
Saying, "Father, if you are willing remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but yours be done,"


text:
Being in agony he prayed more earnestly; his sweat was as if it was great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.


text:
While he still was speaking, look, a crowd and he who was named Judas, one of the twelve, went in front of them, and drew close to Jesus to kiss him.


text:
When they who were around him, saw what was to follow, they said to him, "Lord, should we strike with the sword?"


text:
Jesus said to the chief priests, the captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to him, "Have you come out as against a thief with swords and clubs?


text:
"When I was daily with you in the temple, you didn't reach out your hands against me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness."


text:
Then they took him, led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. Peter followed in the distance.


text:
When they had started a fire in the midst of the hall and had sat together; Peter sat down among them.


text:
A certain maid watched him as he sat by the fire, looked at him closely, and said, "This man was also with him."


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After a short time, another saw him and said, "You are also one of them." Peter said, "Man, I am not."


text:
After about one hour later, another confidently affirmed, saying, "It is true, that this [man] was with him, for he is a Galilean."


text:
Peter said, "Man, I do not what you are talking about." Immediately while he was still speaking, the rooster crew.


text:
The Lord turned and looked at Peter; then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."


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After they had blindfolded him, they slugged him on the face and asked him, saying, "Prophesy, who is it that hit you."


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As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, the chief priest, and the scribes came together and led him into their council, saying,


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They said, "What need do we have of any more witnesses, for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth."


text:
and they started to accuse him, saying, "We found this [man] corrupting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying, that he himself is Christ, a King."


text:
They were even more fierce saying, "He agitates the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning in Galilee up to here."


text:
As soon as he knew that the belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself was also at Jerusalem at the time.


text:
When Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he was most eager to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He also hoped to see some miracle done by him.


text:
Herod along with his men of war utterly despised him, mocked him, dressed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him back to Pilate.


text:
That same day Pilate and Herod became friends again, for before this they were antagonistic toward each other.


text:
said to them, "You have brought this man to me as one who corrupts the people. Now, look, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man concerning those things of which you accuse him.


text:
But he said to them the third time, "Why? What evil has he done? I found no reason for death in him. I will therefore chastise him and let him go."


text:
But instantly, with loud voices, they demanded that he might be crucified, and the voices of them and the chief priests prevailed.


text:
and then released to them the one who because of sedition and murder was thrown into prison, whom they demanded, but he delivered Jesus to their will.


text:
As they led him away, they laid upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, come out of the country, and they laid on him the cross, that he would carry it following Jesus.


text:
A large crowd of people followed him, women also, who were hitting themselves because of grief and weeping loudly.


text:
But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me weep, instead for yourselves and for your children.


text:
"For, behold, the days are coming, in which they will say, «Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bare, and the breasts which never nursed.»


text:
When they had come to the place, which is called Calvary, they crucified him there and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left.


text:
Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't what they are doing." Then they parted his clothes and cast lots.


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And the people stood watching. The rulers also with them made fun of him saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is Christ, the chosen of God."


text:
An inscription was written also above him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew--THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.


text:
One of the malefactors hanging there ranted against him, saying, "If you are Christ save yourself and us."


text:
But the other responding rebuked him, saying, "Don't you fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation?


text:
"Truly we justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong."


text:
And Jesus calling out in a loud voice said, "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit," and having said this, he gave up his spirit.


text:
Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Truly, this was a righteous man."


text:
All the people came together to that sight, seeing the things that had happened, smote their chests and returned.


text:
All his close friends and the women who followed him from Galilee, stood away off, watching these things.


text:
(He had not consented to the counsel and deed of them.) [He was] from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also waited for the Kingdom of God.


text:
He took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn in rock, in which no one had ever before was laid.


text:
The women also who came with him from Galilee, followed closely, and saw the tomb and how his body was laid, [56] then they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.


text:
Now on the first [day] of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain [other things] with them,


text:
Then it came about, as they were perplexed about it, behold, two men in shining garments stood by them.


text:
They were afraid and bowed down their faces to the ground, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?


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saying, «The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day rise.»


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Then they remembered his words, [9] and returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and all the rest.


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It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other [women] with them that told these things to the Apostles.


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Then Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping down he saw the linen clothes laid by themselves, then he left wondering in himself what was going to happen.


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And behold, two of them went that same day to a village name Emmaus, which was about 7 miles from Jerusalem.


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It so happened that while they were talking and thinking about this, Jesus came near and went with them,


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One of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said to him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem and haven't known the things that have happened there these [past few] days?"


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He said to them, "What things?" They said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.


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"And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified him.


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"But we were hoping that it would have been he who was going to save Israel, and beside all this, today, is the third day since these things happened.


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when they didn't find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.


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"And certain of those, who are with us, went to the tomb and found it just like the women had said, but they didn't see him."


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Then beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.


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They came closer to the village where they were going, and he made as though he would have gone further,


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but they held him back saying, "Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost gone." Then he went in to stay with them.


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Then they said to one another, "Didn't our hear burn within us, while he talked with us on the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?"


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They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, found the eleven gathered together along with those who were with them,


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Then they told what things [happened] to them on the road, and how he was recognized by them when breaking the bread.


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And as they spoke about this, Jesus himself stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be to you."


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"Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones as you see me have."


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And while they still didn't believe because of joy and wonder, he said to them, "Do you have any food?"


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Then he said to them, "These are the worlds which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning me."


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and said to them, "It thus is written and necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day,


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and that repentance and remission of sins should be preach in his name among all nations starting at Jerusalem.


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"Now look, I send the promise of my Father to you, but remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high."


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Then it came to pass while he blessed them, that he was parted from then and carried up into heaven.


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As many as did receive him, he gave to them the right to be the children of God, [that is] to those who believe in his name,


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who were not born from bloods, from the will of the flesh, or from the will of a male, but from God.


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The Word became flesh and lived among us. We looked at his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.


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John testified about him and shouted, saying, "This was he of whom I said, «He who comes after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.»


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This is John's testimony when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"


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So they asked him, "Well then, are you Elijah?" He said, "I'm not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No."


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Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?"


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He said, "I [am] the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, «Make a straight path for the Lord,» like the prophet Isaiah said."


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Then they asked and said to him, "Why do you baptize then, if you are not the Christ, Elijah, or the prophet?"


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John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands among you one whom you do not know.


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"It is he who comes after me who ranks ahead of me. Of him I am not worthy that I may loosen his sandal's strap."


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The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.


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"This is the one about whom I said, «A man comes after me who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.»


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"I did not know him only that he should be clearly seen by Israel. For this reason I come baptizing with water."


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"I didn't know him, only that he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, «On whom you will see the Spirit coming down and staying on him is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.»


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Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said, "What are you looking for"? They answered him, "Rabbi (which when interpreted means, Teacher), where do you live?"


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He said to them, "Come and see". They went and saw where he lived, and they stayed there with him that day, because it was about the tenth hour (4 PM).


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He first found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which, when interpreted, means, the Christ).


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Then he brought him to Jesus. When Jesus looked at him he said, "You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You will be called Cephas" (which, when interpreted means, a stone).


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Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found the one written about by Moses in the Law and in the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."


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Nathaniel said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus replied to him, "Before Philip called out to you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."


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Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I saw you under the fig tree, you believe? You will see greater things than these."


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Then he said to him, "Very truly, I say to you, from now on you will see heaven open up and the angels of God going up and coming down to the Son of Man."


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Now there were six stone water jars for purifying in the Jewish manner, each containing two or three measures.


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Then he said to them, "Now draw some out and carry to the man in charge of the dining room." So they took [it].


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When the man in charge of the dining room had tasted the water that was made into wine but unaware of where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the man in charge of the dining room addressed the bridegroom


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and said to him, "Every one sets out the good wine at the beginning, and when all have drunk a lot then what is inferior. You have kept the good wine until now."


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Jesus did this, the beginning of miracles, in Cana of Galilee. He clearly showed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.


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After this he, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there a few days.


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After he had made a whip from small cords, he drove them all out from the temple, both sheep and ox. Then he poured out the money changer» s money and overturned the tables.


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Then he said to those who sold doves, "Take these things out of here, do not make my Father's house a marketplace."


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And so the Jews snarled, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"


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Therefore when he had been raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them, and they believed the Scripture and the statement that Jesus had said.


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Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles, which he did,


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The same came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we can see that you are a teacher come from God, because no one can do these miracles that you do unless God is with him.


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Jesus answered and said to him, "Very truly, I say to you, «Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.'"


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Nicodemus says to him, "How is it possible for one to be born when one is old? Can he enter into his mother's womb a second time and be born?"


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Jesus answered, "Very truly, I say to you, «Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.»


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"The wind blows where it wishes, you hear its sound but cannot tell where it comes from, and so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."


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"Very truly, I say to you, «We speak what we know and testify what we have seen, but you don't accept our witness.


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"If I told you earthly things, and you don't believe, how will you believe, if I tell you about heavenly things?


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"No one has gone up to heaven, except he who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.


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"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.


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"For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.


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"The one who believes in him is not judged, but the one who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.


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"This is [the reason for] the judgment, because light is come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light, because their actions were evil.


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"Everyone who does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, for fear that his actions may be discovered and reproved.


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"But the one who does the truth comes to the light, so that his actions may be plainly seen that they are done for God".


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After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea; there he spent some time with them, and baptized.


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John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because lots of water was there, and they kept coming and being baptized.


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So they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you beyond the Jordan, the one whom you testified about, look, he is baptizing and everybody is coming to him."


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"You yourselves bear me witness that I said, «I am not the Christ, but that I am sent ahead of him.»


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"He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the bridegroom's friend who stands by and listens, rejoices with joy for the bridegroom's voice. So my joy is completely full.


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"He who comes from above is over all. He who is from the earth is from the earth and speaks earthly things. He who comes from heaven is over all.


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"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, but he who doesn't believe the Son will not see life, on the contrary the fierce anger of God remains on him".


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Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,


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So he came to a Samaritan city, called Sychar, near the piece of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.


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Jacob's well was there. Therefore Jesus, tired out from the journey, sat by the well. It was around the sixth hour [noon].


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The Samaritan woman says to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman, because the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans?"


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Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew God's gift and who it is who asks you, «Give me a drink,» you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."


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The woman says to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. So where then are you going to get this living water?


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"Are you greater than our forefather Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it along with his children and cattle?"


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Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never thirst, furthermore the water I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."


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The woman says to him, "Sir, give me this water, in order that I may never thirst, neither come here to draw water."


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Jesus says to her, "You answered honestly that you have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the present one you have is not your husband, you have told the truth in this."


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"Our forefathers worshipped on this mountain, yet you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people should worship."


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Jesus says to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming, when not even in this mountain or in Jerusalem will people worship the Father.


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"But the time is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such as this to worship him.


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The woman says to him, "I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When he comes, he will make all things known to us."


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And at this [moment] his disciples came and were shocked that he was talking with the woman, yet no one said, "What are you seeking" or, "Why are you talking with her?"


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"Don't you say that there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Look, I say to you, «Lift up you eyes and look at the fields, for they are white even now ready to harvest.»


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"And he who reaps receives pay and gathers the crop for eternal life, in order that both the sower and the harvester may rejoice together.


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"I sent you to harvest what you have put in no hard work. Others have worked, and you have entered into their labors."


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Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him through the report of the woman who said, "He told me everything I ever did."


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So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.


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They told the woman, "We now believe, not only because of what you said, but because we have heard for ourselves and know that this is the Christ, the Savior of the world."


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Then when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen everything that he did at Jerusalem at the festival, for they had also gone to the festival.


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Then Jesus again went back to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. A certain nobleman was there whose son was sick at Capernaum.


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When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and was imploring him so that he would come and heal his son, because he was at the point of death.


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Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you [Galileans] see miracles and wonders, you absolutely will not believe."


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Jesus says to him, "Go, your son lives." The man believed the word, which Jesus spoke to him and went.


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He then asked them the hour in which he had gotten well. They said to him, "Yesterday the fever left him at the seventh hour [1 PM]."


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Then the father knew that it was at that very hour when Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." So he believed along with his whole family.


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In Jerusalem by the sheep gate there is a pool with five covered porches; in Hebrew it is called Bethesda.


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In these was a large crowd of sick people lying down---the blind, crippled, and wasted, waiting for the agitation of the water.


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For an angel went down occasionally to the pool and agitated the water. Now then whoever stepped in first after the stirring up of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.


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When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be well?"


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The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming someone else gets in before me."


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Then the Jews said to the healed man, "It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat."


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But the healed man did not know who it was, because Jesus had left unnoticed (a crowd being in that place).


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Later on Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "Look, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you."


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Therefore the Jews started to persecute Jesus and were seeking to kill him, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.


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Then because of this, the Jews were seeking to kill him even more, because not only had he broken the Sabbath but also said that God was his own father making himself equal with God.


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So Jesus answered and said to them, "Very truly, I say to you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, only what he sees the Father do, for whatever he does, the Son does the same.


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"For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.


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"Just as the Father raises up the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whomever he wants.


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so that all should honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father. The one, who does not honor the Son, doesn't honor the Father who sent him.


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"Very truly I say to you, «He who hears my word and believes on him who sent me has everlasting life and will not come into condemnation but has passed from death to life.»


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"Very truly I say to you, «The time is coming and already here when the dead will hear the Son of God's voice, and those who hear will live.»


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"For just as the Father has life in himself, [27] so he has given the Son to have life in himself and has given him authority to pass judgment as well, because he is the Son of Man.


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"Don't be shocked at this, for the time is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice


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and will come out; those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have repeatedly done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.


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"I am not able to do anything of myself; as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of my Father who sent me.


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"There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.


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"But I have a greater witness than John's, for the works which the Father gave me to complete, these same works that I do bear witness on my behalf that the Father has sent me.


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"The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You [people] have not ever heard his voice, nor seen his shape.


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"Also you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in this one whom he sent.


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"Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are the very ones that testify about me.


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"I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me; if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him.


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"How is it possible for you to believe when you like to get praise from one another and are not seeking praise from the only God?


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Then Jesus lifted up [his] eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, "Where are we going to buy bread so these can eat?"


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Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii's worth of bread is not enough for them, so that every one of them could take a little."


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"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?"


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Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a lot of grass there, so the men sat down, around five thousand in number.


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Jesus then took the loaves, and after he had given thanks, distributed to the disciples and the disciples to those who were set down and the fishes likewise, as much as they wanted.


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When they were completely full, he said to his disciples, "Gather the remaining pieces, so that nothing is lost."


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So they gathered and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves, which was left over by those who had eaten.


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And so when these people saw the miracles that Jesus did, said, "Truly this is the prophet who is to come into the world."


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And so when Jesus knew that they would come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew to the mountain alone.


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entered into the boat, and were going across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them.


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Then rowing approximately twenty fire or thirty stadia (between 3 and 4 miles), they intently look at Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.


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Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at land to which they were going.


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The next day the crowd standing of the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples entered and that Jesus did not go with his disciples into the boat, which his disciples had left by themselves.


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(But other boats came from Tiberias close to the place were they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks.)


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As soon as the people saw that Jesus was not there nor his disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.


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When they found Jesus on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"


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Jesus answered and said to them, "Very truly, I say to you: you not looking for me because you saw the miracles but because you ate the loaves and were filled.


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"Do not work for the food which spoils but for the food which lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, because the Father, God, has affixed [his] seal on him."


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Then they said to him, "What sign do you show, that we may see and believe you? What are you going to do?


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"Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat."


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Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I say to you: Moses did not give you that bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.


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Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.


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"This is the will of my Father who sent me, that I should not lose any of those given me, but I will raise them up at the last day.


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"And this is the will of the one who sent me that all who see the Son and believe in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day."


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Then the Jews started grumbling about him, because he said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."


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They kept saying, "Isn't this the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says: I came down from heaven?"


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"No one is able to come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.


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"It is written in the prophets: And they all will be taught by God. Therefore all, who has heard and have learned of the Father, come to me.


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"I am the living bread who came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."


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Therefore the Jews started arguing among themselves saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"


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Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I say to you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.


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"The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day,


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"Just as the living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who eats me, likewise will live because of me.


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"This is the bread, which came down from heaven, not like the manna, which your ancestors ate. They died, but the one who eats this bread will live forever."


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Therefore many of his disciples after hearing this said, "This is a tough statement, who can understand it."


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When Jesus in himself knew that his disciples were muttering at this, he said to them, "Does this offend you?


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"It is the Spirit who gives life; this flesh is useless. The words, which I speak to you, are spirit and life.


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"But there are some of you that do not believe," for Jesus knew from the beginning those who wouldn't believe and who would betray him.


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Therefore he said, "That's why I said to you that no one is able to come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father."


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He was speaking about Judas Iscariot (Simon's [son]), for he was intending to betray him, [even though he was] one of the twelve.


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And after this Jesus traveled in Galilee, for he would not travel in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.


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Then his brothers said to him, "Get out of here and go to Judea, so you disciples may also see the your works that you do,


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for no one does anything in secret, for he seeks publicity. If you do these things, show yourself to the world."


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But after his brothers had gone up, then he went up to the festival, too, not openly but even as in secret.


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There was a lot of whispering in the crowd concerning him, for some people said, "He is a good man," but others said, "He deceives the people."


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"If anyone wants to do his will, he will know the teaching if it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself.


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"The one who speaks from himself is seeking for his own glory, but the one who is seeking for glory for the one who sent him is true and no unrighteousness is in him.


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"That's why Moses gave you circumcision (not because it is from Moses but from the Fathers), and you on the Sabbath circumcise a man.


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"If a man on the Sabbath receives circumcision, so that Moses' law should not be broken, are you angry with me, because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?


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«But look, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers really know that this is truly the Christ?


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Then Jesus shouted as he taught in the temple, saying, "You know me and know where I am from. I have not come on my own, on the contrary he who sent me is true, whom you do not know.


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But many of the people believed in him and said, "When Christ comes will he do more miracles than these which this [man] has done?"


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The Pharisees heard the people whispering these about him, so the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to arrest him.


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Then Jesus said to them, "I am with you only a little while longer, then I leave to the one who sent me.


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Then the Jews said to one another, "Where will he go, that we will not find him? Will he go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?


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"What is this statement he said: «You will seek me and not find me, and where I am, you cannot come?»


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On the last day, the most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted saying, "If any one thirsts, come to me and drink.


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"He who believes in me, as the Scripture said rivers of living water will flow from his innermost being."


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He said this about the Spirit, which those who believe in him were about to receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet [given], because Jesus was not yet glorified.


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"Hasn't the Scriptures said that Christ comes the posterity of David and from the town of Bethlehem where David was?"


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Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, «Why haven't you brought him?»


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Nicodemus (the one who came to Jesus at night, being one of them) said to them, Joh 7:51 "Our law does not condemn the person before hearing from him and knowing what he did."


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They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet rises up from Galilee."


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At daybreak he arrived again in the temple, and all the people came to him. Then he sat down and taught them.


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The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to him who had been caught in adultery. After they had put her between them,


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They said this craftily, testing him so they could accuse him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with [his] finger.


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And as they continued to ask him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let him who is sinless throw a stone at her."


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They heard this, and rebuked by their conscience, they left one by one starting at the oldest down to the last. Jesus alone was left along with the woman standing in the midst.


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After Jesus straightened himself and saw no one but the woman, he said to her, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?"


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She said, "No one, sir". Jesus then said to her, "I don't condemned you either; go, and do not sin anymore."


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Then Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."


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Jesus answered and said to them, "Even though I testify about myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I go, but you cannot figure out where I came from and where I am going.


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Then they said to him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You do not know me or my Father, because if you had known me, you would have known my Father also."


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Jesus spoke these words in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one arrested him, because his time had not come yet.


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Then Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me and die in your sins. Where I am going, you cannot come".


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Then the Jews said, "Is he going to kill himself? Is that why he says where I am going you cannot come?"


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He is said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are from this world; I am not from this world.


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"That's why I said to you, that you shall die in your sins, for if you don't believe that I Am, you shall die in your sins."


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Then they said to him, "Who are you?" And Jesus said to them, "Even what I said to you from the beginning.


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"I have many things to say and condemn you for, but he who sent is true, and I speak to the world those things which I have heard from him."


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Then Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I Am, and [that] I do nothing from myself, but even as the Father has taught me, so I speak these things.


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"He who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me by myself, for I always do those things that please him."


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Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples,


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They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and were never in bondage to any one. How can you say, «You will be set free?»


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"I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.


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"I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and so you do that which you have seen with your father."


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They answered and said to him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the actions of Abraham.


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"But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.


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"You do the actions of your father." Then they said to him, "We are not born by fornication; we have one Father--God."


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Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from and came here from God, for I did not come on my own, but he sent me.


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"You are of [your] father, the devil, and you wish to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he tells [it] from himself, because he is a liar and the father of it.


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"The one who is of God hears God's words, the reason you don't hear it, [is] because you are not of God."


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Then the Jews answered and said to him, "We said it well that you are a Samaritan and have a demon."


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Then the Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead as well as the prophets, and you say: If any keeps my word, he will not see death ever.


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"You are surely not greater than Abraham, who died, and the prophets who died. Who do you make yourself to be]?"


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Jesus answered, "If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your God.


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"Yet you do not know him. If I were to say that I don't know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word.


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Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus concealed himself and left the Temple by going through the midst of them and so departed in this way.


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His disciples asked him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"


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Jesus answered, "Neither this man or his parents sinned, on the contrary [it was] that the works of God might be made evident in him.


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"I must be busy doing the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night comes when no one can work.


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After he said this, he spit on the ground and made clay from the spit, then he spread the clay on the eyes of the blind man and told him,


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"Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam", which translated means "Sent." So he left, washed, and came seeing.


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Then the neighbors and those who had previously seen him that was blind said, "Isn't this he who sat and begged?"


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Some said that this is the one but others that he is similar to him. He emphatically said that I am [that man].


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He answered and said, "A man named Jesus made clay, coated my eyes, and said to me, «Go to the pool of Siloam and wash,» so I went, washed, and I received sight."


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So the Pharisees asked him again how he had received his sight. "He put clay on my eyes, I washed, and I see," he said to them.


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Then some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath Day." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such miracles?" So there was a division among them.


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So once more they ask the blind man, "What do you say about him who opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."


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Now the Jews did not believe [the things] about him who had been blind and received sight until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.


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And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, whom you claim was born blind? How then can he now see?"


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but how he now sees, we don't know or who opened his eyes, we don't know either. Ask him, he is an adult and can speak for himself."


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His parents said this, because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed that he was Christ, then he should be expelled from the synagogue.


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Then again they called for the man who had been blind and said, "Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner."


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He answered them, "I have already told you, and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to be his disciples, too?"


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The man answered and said to them, «This is really strange that you don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes!


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«Now we know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, he listens to him.


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They answered him and said to him, "You were wholly born in sins, and you teach us?" Then they threw him out.


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Jesus heard that they had thrown him out and finding him said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?"


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Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, that those who do see may not see, and those who do see may become blind."


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Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have had no sin, but now you say, «We see.» Therefore, your sin remains."


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"Very truly, I say to you, the one who does not enter the sheep fold through the door but climbs in some where else is a thief and a robber.


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"The doorkeeper opens for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.


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"As soon as he puts his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him and know his voice.


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"They will not follow a stranger but will run away from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."


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"I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, will go in and out, and find pasture.


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"The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.


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"But the hireling, who is not a shepherd, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away. The wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep.


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"I have other sheep, which are not of this sheep fold I must also bring them; they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.


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"No one takes it from me; I lay it down on my own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father."


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Others said, "These are not words from a demon possessed man. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"


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Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, plainly tell us."


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Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you didn't believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness of me,


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"I give eternal life to them. They will not perish, ever, or will any one pluck them out of my hand.


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"My Father, who gave [them] to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck [them] out of the hand of my Father.


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Jesus started speaking to them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father, for which one of those works are you stoning me?"


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The Jews answered, saying, "We are not going to stone you because of a good deed, but because of blasphemy, and because that you, being human, make yourself God."


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how can you say about him whom the Father has set apart for himself and sent into the world, «You blaspheme,» when I said, «I am the Son of God?»


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but if I do, even if you don't believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and believe that the Father [is] in me and I in him."


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Then they tried again to seize him, but he escaped out of their hand, [40] and went again across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized and stayed there.


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Many came to him and said, "Even John didn't do a miracle, but everything that John said about this man is true."


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It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.


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When Jesus heard [this], he said, "This sickness is not to [lasting] death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified by it."


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Therefore when he had heard that he was sick, he remained there in that same place where he was for two more days.


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The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just seeking to stone you, and you are going back there again?"


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Jesus answered, Aren't there twelve hours in the day? If someone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.


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He said these things, and then said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go, so I can wake him up from sleep."


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"And for your sakes I'm glad I wasn't there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."


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Then Thomas (called the twin) said to his fellow disciples, "Let's go, too, so we can die with him."


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As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed seated in the house.


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Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Even if one who believes in me dies, he will live,


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She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."


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And having said this she went back and called for her sister Martha telling her in private, "The Teacher is here and calls for you."


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Then the Jews, who were with her in the house comforting her, saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her saying, "She goes to the grave to mourn."


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When Mary came to where Jesus was, she collapsed at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."


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Then Jesus after seeing her crying and the Jews with her also crying, he groaned in the spirit and was deeply moved.


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But some of them said, "Couldn't this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying"?


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Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, Lord, by now he stinks, for he has been [there] four days."


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So they removed the stone from where the dead lay. Jesus' eyes lifted up, and he said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.


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"I know that you always hear me, but for the sake of the people standing here I said [this], so that they may believe that you have sent me."


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He, who had been dead, came out, bound hand and foot with grave cloths and his face had a handkerchief tied around it. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."


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Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things, which Jesus did, believed in him.


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Then the chief priests and Pharisees assembled the Council and said, "What are we going to do, for this man does many miracles?


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"If we let him alone, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and remove our place and nation."


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or even realize that it is better for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should be destroyed."


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He didn't speak this from himself, but being High Priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for that nation,


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and not only for that nation but that he would also gather the children of God who were scattered abroad.


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As a result Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews but went from there to a place near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim, and he stayed there with his disciples.


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The Jew's Passover was approaching, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to ceremonially purify themselves.


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They were looking for Jesus and kept saying to one another as they stood in the Temple, "What do you think? Will he come to the festival?"


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Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given an order that if any knew where he was, he should report it so they could arrest him.


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Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, the one who died whom he raised from the dead.


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They made him supper there, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him.


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Then Mary took a pound of very expensive, unadulterated oil of nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. The fragrance of the perfumed oil filled the house.


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He didn't say this because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. He held the moneybag and took from it what was put into it.


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A lot of people from the Jews soon afterward realized that he was there, and they came not only because of Jesus, but also that they might see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.


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The next day many people, who were coming to the festival, heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.


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They took palm tree branches and went out to meet him shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed [is] he who comes in the name of the Lord, The King of Israel!"


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At first his disciples didn't understand these things, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him.


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Therefore the people, who were with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him from the dead, kept telling it over and over.


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As a result the Pharisees said among themselves, "Do you realize that we don't prevail at all? Look, the whole world is following him."


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"Very truly, I say to you: Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and die, it remains just one, but if it dies, it produces a lot of fruit.


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"The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.


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"If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there my servant will be, too. If any one serves me, the Father will honor him.


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"Now my soul is troubled, and what can I say: Father save me from this hour? But the reason I came is for this hour.


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"Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."


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Therefore the people standing there and heard said, "It thundered," others said, "An angel spoke to him."


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The people answered him, "We understand from the Law that Christ remains forever. How come you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?"


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Then Jesus said to them, "The light is with you only a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for the one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.


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"While you have the light, believe in the light, so you may be the children of light." Jesus spoke these things, went away, and hid himself from them.


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So that Isaiah's statement might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been displayed?"


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 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they could not see with the eyes or understand with the heart and return [to me], and I would heal them."


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Nevertheless even of the leaders many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess, lest they should be thrown out of the synagogue,


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But Jesus shouted and said, "The one who believes in me, doesn't just believe in me but in the one who sent me,


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"And if anyone hears my words but doesn't believe, I do not judge him, because I didn't come to judge the world but to save the world.


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"The one who rejects me and doesn't receive my words has one judging him--the word, which I spoke, will judge him on the last day.


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"For I didn't speak of myself, but the Father, who sent me, gave me a commandment what I might say and speak.


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"I know that his commandment is everlasting life. So then whatever I speak, I speak just what my Father told me."


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Before the Passover festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come that he should leave this world for the Father. He loved his own who were in the world; he loved them to the utmost.


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With supper finished, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,


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[and] Jesus knowing that the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God,


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After that he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to dry them with the towel that was tied around him.


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Jesus answered and said to him, "What I do, you do not understand just now, but you will understand later."


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Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I don't wash you, you have no part with me."


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Jesus said to him, "The one who is washed only needs to wash his feet and is completely clean. You are clean but not all."


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Then after he had washed their feet, had retaken his outer robe, and had sat down again, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you?


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 Very truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, neither the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.


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"I'm not talking about all of you; I know whom I picked out, but it was so Scripture might be fulfilled, «He who eats bread with me has lifted his heel against me.»


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"Very truly, I say to you, «The one who receives whomever I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives him who sent me.»


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After this Jesus' spirit was distressed and he testified and said, "Very truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me."


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Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give a piece of bread after I dip it." After he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon's son.


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For some thought that since Judas had the moneybag that Jesus said to him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the poor.


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Then as soon as he had left, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.


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"Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews, «Where I am going, you are cannot come,» so I now say to you, too.


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"I give you a new commandment that you love one another; just as I have loved you, so you must also love one another.


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Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later."


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Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I say to you the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times."


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"There are many dwelling places in my Father's house. If there weren't, I would tell you. I am going to prepare this place for you.


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"And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto me, so that where I am, you may be also.


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Jesus explains to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.


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"If you had known me, you would have known my Father also, and from now on you know him and have seen him."


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Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, yet you have not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father, so why do you say: «Show us the Father?»


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"Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I don't speak from myself, but the Father, who is in me, he does the works.


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"Very truly, I say to you, he, who believes in me, will also do the works that I do, and greater than these will he do, because I go to my Father.


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"[He is] the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it doesn't see or know him, but you know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.


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"Yet in a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, and because I live, you will also live.


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"The one who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and clearly show myself to him."


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Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will show yourself clearly to us and not to the world?"


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Jesus answered and said to him, "If a man love me, he will keep my words. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling place in him.


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"The one who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words, and the word you hear is not my own but the Father's who sent me.


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"The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and bring all things to your memory of whatever I have said to you.


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"Peace, my peace, I leave with you and give to you, not like the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.


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"You have heard me tell you, «I am going away, yet I am coming back.» If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, «I go to the Father, for my Father is greater than I.»


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"I will not talk with you much longer, for the prince of this world comes; and in me he has nothing.


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"Nevertheless that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father has commanded, even so I do. Get up! Let us leave here."


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"He removes every branch on me that doesn't bear fruit and prunes everyone that does bear fruit, so that it will bare more fruit.


text:
"Remain attached to me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains on the vine, so you can't either unless you remain attached to me.


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"I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains attached to me (and I to him) will bare much fruit, for you can do nothing without me.


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"If someone does not remain attached to me, he is thrown out just like a branch and dries up, then men gather them and throw then into the fire, where they are burned.


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"If you remain attached to me, and my words remain in you, you will ask what you want, and it will be done for you.


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"If you keep my commandments, you will continue in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and continue in his love.


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"From now on, I do not call you servants, because the servant does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.


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"You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you should go and bring forth much fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you will ask from the Father in my name, he may give it to you.


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"If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but I have chosen you out of the world, that is why the world hates you.


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"Remember what I said to you, «The servant is not greater than his master.» If they persecuted me, they will persecute you, too. If they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.


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"If I had not come and spoke to them, they would have had no sin, but now they have no pretext for their sin.


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"If I had not done the works among them, which no one else ever did, they wouldn't have any sin, but now they have seen and hated both my Father and me.


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"But this happens so that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law: «They hated me for no reason.»


text:
"But when the Helper (the Spirit of truth, who comes from the Father) comes, whom I send to you from the Father, he will testify about me.


text:
"They will put you out of the synagogues, indeed the hour is coming that whoever kills you will think they are serving God.


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"I have told you these things, so that whenever that time comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I didn't say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you.


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"But I am telling you the truth. It is better for you that I go away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.


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"[They are wrong] about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won't see me any more.


text:
"However when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak about himself, but whatever he will hear, he will speak and will tell you things to come.


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"Everything that the Father has is mine, which is why I said that he will take what is mine and tell it to you.


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"In a little while you will see me no longer, and again in a little while you will see me, because I go to the Father."


text:
Then some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he says to us, «In a little while you will no longer see me, and in a little while you will see me again', and «because I go to the Father?»


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That's why they said, "What is this when he says, «a little while?» We don't understand what he says."


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Now Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so said to them, "Are you discussing among yourselves why I said, «In a little while you will not see me' and also, «In a little while you will see me?»


text:
"Very truly, I say to you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will be very sad but your sorrow will turn into joy.


text:
"When a woman is in labor, she has sorrow because her time has come, but as soon as she has been delivered of the child, she doesn't remember any more the agony for the joy that a human being is born into the world.


text:
"Likewise now you have sorrow, but I will see you again; your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy from you.


text:
"And in that day you will ask me no questions. Very truly I say to you, whatever you may ask the Father in my name, he will give you.


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"Up to now you have asked for nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be fulfilled.


text:
"I have spoken these things in veiled language, but the time comes when I will no longer speak to you in veiled language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.


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"In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will request the Father on your behalf,


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for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and believed that I came from beside the Father.


text:
"I came from beside the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."


text:
"Now we know that you know everything, and don't need anyone to ask you. Because of this we believe that you came from God."


text:
"Look, the hour is coming, yes even is now here, that all of you will be scattered, everyone to his own. You will leave me all by myself, yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.


text:
"I have spoken these things to you, so that you may have peace in me. You will have tribulation, but be cheerful. I have overcome the world."


text:
Jesus spoke these things, then lifted his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that your Son may also glorify you,


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as you gave him authority over all flesh, so all whom you have given to him should have eternal life given to them.


text:
"And this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.


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"So now, Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had with you before the world began.


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"I made your name known to the men you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me. They have kept your word.


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for the words that you have given me, I have given them. They received them and truly know that I came from you, they believed that you sent me.


text:
"And now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world. I am coming to you. Holy Father, through your own name, keep those whom you have given me, so they may be one as we.


text:
"While I was with them in the world, I kept them by your name. I have kept those you gave me, and none are lost except the son of perdition, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.


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"Now I am coming to you. I speak these things in the world, so that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.


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"I have given them your message, and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.


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"I am not asking that you would take them out of the world, but that you would keep them from the evil.


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that they may be one, just like you, Father, [are] in me and I in you; that they may be one in us; and that the world may believe that you sent me.


text:
"I in them and you in me, that they may be made complete in one and that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, just as you loved me.


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"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so they may see my glory which you gave me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.


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"I made your name known to them and will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."


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After Jesus said these things, he went with his disciples across the Kidron Brook, where there was a garden into which he and his disciples entered.


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Judas, also, who betrayed him, knew that place, because Jesus often gathered there with his disciples.


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So Judas, having taken a group of soldiers and temple-police from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.


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Then Jesus knowing everything that would happen to him, came up to them and said, "Who are you looking for?"


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They answered him and said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them.


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([He said this] so that the word which he spoke, "I have lost none of those whom you gave me," would be fulfilled).


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Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.


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Jesus then said to Peter, "Put away your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?"


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Then the group of soldiers, their captain, and the temple-police from the Jews took Jesus and tied him up.


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They lead him away to Annas first, because he was the father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.


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Caiaphas was the one, who gave counsel to the Jews, that it was better that one man should die for the people.


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Simon Peter followed Jesus as well as another disciple. That disciple was known to the high priest and went into the high priest's courtyard with Jesus.


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Peter, however, stood at the outside door. Then the other disciple, who was known by the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl, who was the gatekeeper, and brought Peter in.


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Then the girl, who was the gatekeeper, said to Peter, "Aren't you also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "I am not!"


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The servants and temple police stood by a fire of coals they had made because it was cold, and they warmed themselves. Peter stood with them also and warmed himself.


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Jesus answered him, "I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and temple where the Jews always get together. I have said nothing in secret."


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When he had said this, one of the temple police standing there slapped Jesus with the palm of his hand saying, "Is that the way you answer the High Priest?"


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Jesus answered him, "If I have said anything wrong, bear witness of the evil but if good, why do you hit me?"


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Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, "Aren't you one of his disciples, too?" He denied and said, "I am not!"


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One of the servants of the High Priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Didn't I see you in the garden with him?"


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Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Judgment Hall. It was early, but they didn't go into the Judgment Hall themselves, lest they should be defiled and be unable to eat the Passover meal.


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Then Pilate said to them, "You take him and judge him according to your law." Then Jews answered and said to him, "It isn't lawful for us to put anyone to death,"


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Then Pilate again went into the Judgment Hall and summoned Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"


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Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"


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Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom was of this world, then my attendants fight, so I would not be handed over to the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here."


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Then Pilate said to him, "Are you a king them?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. I have been born for this, and for that purpose I have come into the world, so I might bear witness of the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."


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Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" After he said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no crime to punish him for.


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"Now you have a custom that I should release one to you at the Passover. Therefore do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"


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and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. Then they put a purple robe on him,


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Pilate therefore went out again and said to them, "Look, I bring him out to you, so that you may know that in him I find not even one fault."


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Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. [Pilate] said to them, "Look at this man!"


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When the chief priest and temple police saw him, they shouted, saying, "Crucify [him], crucify [him]." Pilate said to them, "You take and crucify him, for I find in him not even one fault."


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The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God."


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Pilate then said to him, "Aren't you going to speak to me? Don't you know that I have authority to crucify you and authority to release you?"


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Jesus answered, "You would have not authority over me except it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin."


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From that time on, Pilate kept seeking to release him, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."


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Therefore Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the Judgment Seat in a place called the Pavement but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.


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It was Preparation Day of the Passover, about the sixth hour [about noon], and he said to the Jews, "Look, your King!"


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They shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!"


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Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross; the writing was, "Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews."


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Many among the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.


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The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, "Do not write, «The King of the Jews,» instead that he said, «I am King of the Jews.»


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And the soldiers, who crucified Jesus, took his clothes (his tunic, too) and made four parts, one part for each soldier. Now the tunic was seamless woven from the top throughout.


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So they said to each other, "Let's not tear it but cast lots for it [to see] whose it will be." [This happened] that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says, "They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my clothing." That's why the soldiers did these things.


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Now Jesus' mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene were standing by Jesus' cross.


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Then Jesus saw his mother and the disciple, whom he kept loving, standing there; he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son."


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Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that hour that disciple took her into his own [home].


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After this, Jesus seeing that all things were now completed said (so the Scripture might be fulfilled), "I am thirsty."


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A full jar of vinegar was standing there, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, stuck it on a hyssop branch, and put it to his mouth.


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Then when Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished!" He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.


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Because it was Preparation Day, [and] in order that the bodies shouldn't remain on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath Day was special), Pilate was asked that their legs be broken and [their bodies] taken away.


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He who watched this bears witness, and his witness is true. He knows what he says is true, so that you may believe.


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After this Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus but secretly through fear of the Jews, asked Pilate so that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.


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Nicodemus, the one who came to Jesus at night, brought approximately a hundred pound mixture of myrrh and aloes.


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Then they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloth together with spices, just as is the Jewish custom of burial.


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Now by the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in that garden [there was] a new tomb where no one had ever been placed.


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The first of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb.


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So she ran and came to Simon Peter and the other disciple, who was Jesus' friend, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have laid him."


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The cloth, which was around his head, was not lying with the linen clothes but rolled up in a place by itself.


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Mary was standing outside facing the tomb crying, and as she weeping, she stooped down to look into the tomb,


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and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other as the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying.


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They said to her, "Woman, why are you crying?" She said, "Because they have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have laid him."


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After she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there but didn't know that it was Jesus.


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Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?" She, thinking that he was the gardener, said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."


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Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brethren and say to them, «I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.»


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Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things.


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Then that same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors where shut where the disciples were gathered for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace to you."


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After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.


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Therefore the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the mark of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."


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Eight days later the disciples along with Thomas were inside with the doors shut. Then Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace to you."


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Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach your hand here and thrust it into my side. Do not be faithless, but believing."


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Jesus said to him, "Thomas, you have believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe."


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And Jesus truly did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.


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But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life through his name.


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After these things Jesus appeared again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way.


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Simon Peter, Thomas (the twin), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two other disciples were together.


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Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They replied, "We are going with you, too." They immediately went out and entered a boat. That night they caught nothing.


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But now when morning arrived, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn't know that it was Jesus.


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He said to them, "Throw out the net on the right side of the boat, and you will get [some]." So they throw it out, but this time they weren't able to draw it in, because of so many fish.


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Therefore that beloved disciple said to Peter, "It is the Lord". Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his fishing coat on (because he was naked), and threw himself into the water.


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The other disciples came in a small boat (for they were not far from land only about two hundred cubits [about 300 feet/91.5 meters]) dragging the net with fish.


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Simon Peter went up and drew the net full of 153 big fish to land, and even though there were so many, still the net wasn't broken.


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Jesus said to them, "Come, eat." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" knowing that it was the Lord.


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So after they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jona, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love (care much about) you." He said, "Feed my lambs."


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Again, the second time, he said to him, "Simon, son of Jona, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love (care about) you." He said to him, "Feed my sheep".


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He said to him a third time, "Simon, son of Jona, do you like me"? Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, "Do you like me?" He said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I like you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.


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"Very truly, I say to you, when you were young, you would gird yourself and walk wherever you wanted to, but when you become old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and lead you were you don't want to go."


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He said this indicating what kind of death he would glorify God with. After he said this, he said to him, "Follow me."


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Peter then turned around and saw that beloved disciple behind him (the one who leaned close to Jesus at supper and said, "Lord, who is he who betrays you?").


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So this saying was spread around the brethren that that disciple wouldn't die, but Jesus didn't say to him, "You will not die," but, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is it to you?"


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This is that disciple who testifies about these things and wrote these things. We know his testimony is true.


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There are many other things which Jesus did, which if every one would be written, I suppose that even the world itself couldn't contain the books that could be written. Amen.


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 The former account I made, O Theophilus, [was] about all that Jesus began, both to do and to teach,


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until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Spirit had given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen.


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He also showed himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them for forty days and speaking about the things about the Kingdom of God.


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When they were are together, he commanded them that they should not leave Jerusalem and "to wait for the promise of the Father which you heard about from me.


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"For John truly baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."


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Therefore when they were together, they asked him, "Lord, will you now restore the kingdom to Israel?"


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He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has placed in his own authority.


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"But you will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be witnesses for me both in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth."


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When he had spoken these things, while they were watching, he was taken up, and a cloud carried him up out of their sight.


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While they stared intensely toward heaven as he went up, look, two men stood next to them in white clothes,


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who said, "Men of Galilee, why are you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven will come in this way as you have seen him go into heaven."


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When they had come in, they went up into an upper room where Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James--the son of Alphaeus, Simon Zelotes, and Judas--James' son were staying.


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All of them continued with complete agreement in prayer and supplication with the women, Mary--the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.


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In those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said (the total number of names was about 120),


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"Men and brothers, this scripture has to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit through David spoke beforehand concerning Judas, who was the guide to those who seized Jesus.


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"Now this man bought a field with the reward of his evil deed and falling head first, he split open, and all his intestines pouted out.


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"It was known to all those who lived in Jerusalem, so much so that the field is named in their proper language, Aceldama, which means, «The field of blood.»


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"Now it is written in the book of Psalms, «Let his house be empty, and let no man live there,» and «Let another take his position of authority.»


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"Therefore from these men who have gone with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,


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"beginning from the baptism of John until that very day that he was up from us, one must be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection."


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so that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas lost by sinning, that he might go to his own place."


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Suddenly a sound came from heaven sounding like a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.


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They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began talking with other languages as the Spirit gave them clear utterance.


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Now when this sound was heard, the crowd came together and was confused, because every one heard them speaking in their own language.


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They were amazed and wondering, saying to one another, "Look, aren't all these which speak Galileans?


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"Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and those of us living in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia...


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"Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and in areas of Libya, Cyrene, and strangers in Rome, Jews and proselytes,...


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But Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all living in Jerusalem let it be known to you and listen to my words.


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«And it will come about in the last days,» says God, «I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see vision, and your old men will dream dreams.


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«And on my servants and my maid servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.


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«And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood, fire, and smoky vapor.


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"The sun will be changed, darkened, and the moon bloody red, before that great and memorable Day of the Lord comes,


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"Men on Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man among you proven by God by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you, yourselves, know.


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"Him, being given over by God's preplanned counsel and foreknowledge, you have taken and through wicked hands have crucified and slain.


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"Whom God has raised up, having loosened the pains of death, because it was impossible that he should be held by it.


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"For David says this about him, «I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.


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«Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was happy, and even more my flesh will rest in hope, too,


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because you will not leave my soul in hell, nor will you allow my Holy One to see fleshly corruption.


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"Men and brothers, let me freely speak to you about the patriarch David, that he is both death and buried, and his sepulcher is here with us even today.


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"Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that from the fruit of his loins--according to the flesh--he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.


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"Seeing this beforehand, he spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh experience corruption.


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"Therefore being on the right hand of God exalted and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you now see and hear.


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"For David hasn't ascended into the heavens, but he himself said, «The Lord said to my Lord, You sit at my right hand.


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"Therefore let the whole house of Israel confidently know that God has made this same Jesus whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ."


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Now when they heard [this], they were very disturbed in the heart and said to Peter and to the other Apostles, "Men and brothers, what should we do?"


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Then Peter said to them, "Each one of you repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.


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"For the promise is to you, to your children, and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will invite."


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With many other words he earnestly bore witness and exhorted them saying, "Save yourselves for this troublesome, perverse generation."


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Then those, who gladly received his message, were baptized, and that very day about 3,000 souls were added.


text:
They diligently continued in the Apostles' Teaching, fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers.


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They kept on [meeting] every day in harmony and broke bread from house to house eating their food with joy and without any attitudes of Boastful self-importance,


text:
praising God, and being in the good graces of all the people. The Lord added daily to the church those who were being saved.


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and a certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the Temple which is named Beautiful, to ask for gifts of charity [alms] from those who entered the temple.


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Then Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk."


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He took him by the right hand and lifted [him] up and immediately his feet and ankle bones became strong,


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They knew that it was he who sits for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and astonishment at what had happened to him.


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As the lame man, who was healed, held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them into Solomon's porch dumbfounded.


text:
 When Peter saw [this], he spoke to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you so shocked at this, or why do you look at us this way, as if by our own power we had made this man to walk?


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"The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified His Son, Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in Pilate's presence, when he was determined to let him go.


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"In His name through faith in His name [is what] has made this man strong whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is in Him has given him this physical health in the presence of you all.


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"Those things that God had revealed before through the mouth of all his prophets, that Messiah should suffer; he has fulfilled this.


text:
"Therefore repent and be converted, so that you sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord,


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"Heaven had to receive until the Times of Restitution of all things which God has spoken through the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.


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"For Moses truly said to the forefathers, «The Lord your God will raise up a prophet for you from your brethren like me; you must listen to everything he will say to you,


text:
and so it will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be destroyed from among the people.'


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"Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those afterwards have spoken the same way foretold these days.


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"You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our forefathers, telling Abraham, "In your seed will all the groups of people of the earth be blessed.


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"God raised up His Son, Jesus, and sent him to bless you first, to turn every one of you away from his sins."


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While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple [guard], and the Sadducees came to them


text:
being greatly annoyed that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead.


text:
Annas, the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many of the high priest's relatives were gathered together at Jerusalem.


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When they had put them in the middle, they asked, "By what kind of power or in what name have you done this?"


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Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "You rulers of the people and elders of Israel--


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if we are being examined because of the good deed done to the crippled man as in what way he is healed,


text:
then let it be known to all of you and by all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. [It is] by him that this man standing here before you [is] well.


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neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved."


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Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they were shocked, and recognized them that they had been with Jesus.


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said, "What should we do to these men, for truly a notable miracle has been done by them openly [known] by all those who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it? Act 4:17 But so that is spreads no further among the people, let us seriously threaten them that they will not speak any more to anyone in this name."


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but Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen obediently to you more then God, you judge,


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So when they had threatened them further, they let them go, not finding any way how they could punish them, because all the people praised God for what had been done.


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Having been let go, they went to their own group and told everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them.


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After they heard that, they lifted up their voices all together to God and said, "Lord, you are God, who has made heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them.


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"By the mouth of your servant David you have said, «Why did the heathen rage and the people imagine impossible things?


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«The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.»


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"For truly against your holy child, Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod, Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together


text:
and now Lord, see their threatenings and grant to your servants that with complete boldness we may speak your word,


text:
by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done in the name of your holy child Jesus."


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After they had prayed, the place where they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.


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The multitude of believers were of one heart and one soul, neither did any of them say that the things they owned were their own, but they had everything in common.


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The apostles gave witness about the resurrection of the Lord with great power, and great grace was upon all of them,


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neither was any of them lacking, for as many as were property or home owners sold them and brought the money from what was sold


text:
and laid it down at the apostle's feet, and it was distributed to every person according to their need.


text:
but kept some of the money; his wife also know about this. He brought part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.


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Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit to keep some of the money from the land?


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"While it remained [with you], wasn't it your own, and after it was sold, wasn't it in your own power? Why have you thought this up in your heart? You haven't lied to men but to God.


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[When] Ananias heard those words, he fell down and gave up his spirit. Great fear came on all those who heard these things.


text:
Peter started to talk to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for this much?" She said, "Yes, for that much."


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Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Look see the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and will carry you out."


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Then she immediately fell down [dead] at his feet and gave up her soul, then the young men came in and found her dead. Then carrying her out, they buried [her] by her husband.


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Through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders happened among the people, and they all were in agreement at Solomon's porch.


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Therefore they brought the sick into the streets and laid [them] on cots and mats, so that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might cast a shadow on some of them.


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There also came a large crowd out of the cities around Jerusalem bringing sick people and those vexed by unclean spirits, and every one of them was healed.


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Then the high priest stood up and all those who were with him--those of the sect of the Sadducees--and were full of wrath.


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So when they heard that, they went into the temple in the early morning and taught. Meanwhile the high priest and those with him came and called the council together with the Sanhedrin of the children of Israel. They sent to the prison to have them brought [to them].


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saying, "Truly we found the prison secured and the guards standing outside the door, but when we opened it up, we found no one in there."


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Now when the high priest, the temple captain, and the chief priests heard these things, they were perplexed about it wondering what this would grow into.


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Then someone came and told them, saying, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple teaching the people.


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So the captain and the officers went and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they would be stoned [to death].


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After they had brought them, the set [them] in front of the council, then the high priest asked them, saying,


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"Didn't we straightly command you not to teach in this name? Now look you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood on us."


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"God has exalted him with his right hand [to be] a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.


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"We are his witnesses of these things, and [so is] the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."


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Then one of the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, stood up. He was very honored among all the people and commanded to put the apostles out for a little while.


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He said to them, "You men of Israel, be very careful for yourselves in what you intend to do about these men,


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for before these days Theudas rose up bragging to be a somebody with whom a number of men--about 400--joined themselves. These were killed and all those who obeyed him were scattered and brought to nothing.


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"After him Judas of Galilee, rose up in the days of taxing and drew away many people after him. He also perished and all those who obeyed him were scattered.


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"So now I say to you, «Keep away from these men and leave them alone, for if this counsel or this work is from men it will come to nothing,


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but if it is from God, you cannot overthrow it, for fear that you will be found to fight against God."


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They agreed with him, and when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, then let them go.


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They left from the council's presence, rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.


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At that time, when the number of the disciples was growing rapidly, there arose a complaint by the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily charitable aid.


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Then the twelve called the group of the disciples and said, "It is not fitting that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables.


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"Therefore brothers, look among you for seven men with a honest testimony, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint over this matter.


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This answer pleased the whole group, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicholas--a proselyte of Antioch.


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The Word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a large number of the priests were obedient to the faith.


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Then certain of the synagogue, named "The Libertines", along with Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and from Cilician and Asia got up and started arguing with Stephen,


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So they sneakingly got men who said, "We have heard him say blasphemous words against Moses and God."


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They stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and came up to him, caught him, and brought him before the council.


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Then they set up false witnesses, who said, "This man does not stop speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law,


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for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the traditions which Moses gave to us."


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Then all those who sat in the council, looking closely at him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.


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He [Stephen] said, "Men, brothers, and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran, Act 7:3 and said to him, «Get out of your country and from your kinfolk and come to the land that I show you.»


text:
"So he left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. From there, after his father had died, he moved him into this land where you now live.


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"He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not even enough to set his foot on, yet he promised that he would give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him even though he still had no child.


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"God said it in this way so that his descendants would live in a foreign land and that they would be brought into bondage and vexed for 400 years.


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"The nation to whom they would be vexed by, «I will punish,» God said, «and after that they will come out of there and serve me in this place.»


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"He gave him the covenant of circumcision, then he fathered Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered the twelve Patriarchs.


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delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in Pharaoh's, king of Egypt's, eyes. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.


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"Then a famine passed over all the land of Egypt and Haran [causing] great affliction, for our fathers found no food.


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and the second time Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's kinfolk was made known to Pharaoh.


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"Then Joseph sent and called for his father, Jacob, to [come] to him as well as all his kinfolk--a total of 75 souls.


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then they crossed over to Shechem and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Emmor, the [father] of Shechem.


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"When the time for the promise drew close--that God had sworn to Abraham--the number of the people grew rapidly in Egypt,


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"He dealt deceitfully with our countrymen and treated our fathers badly, so that they threw out their young children, so they wouldn't live.


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"At this time Moses was born; he was a very lovely child reared at his father's house for three months.


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"When he was a full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.


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"Seeing one of them suffer, he defended [him], avenged him who was harassed and fatally hit the Egyptian.


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"He supposed his brethren would have understood how God through him would deliver them, but they didn't understand.


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"The next day, he again showed himself as they were arguing and was trying to reconcile them saying, «Sirs, you are brethren; why do this wrong thing to each other?»


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"But he who was doing the wrong to his neighbor pushed him away saying, «Who made you a ruler and judge over us?


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"Then Moses fled at this saying and was a foreigner in the land of Midian where he fathered two sons.


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"After [another] forty years had gone by, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire of a bush in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.


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"When Moses saw [this], he wondered at this vision, and as he drew near to look, the Lord's voice came to him,


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saying, «I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.» Then Moses started shaking and didn't dare look.


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"Then the Lord said to him, «Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.


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I truly have seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now, come here; I will send you to Egypt.»


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"This Moses whom they rejected saying, «Who made you to be a ruler and judge?» This one God did sent to be a ruler and deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him at the bush.


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"He brought them out, after he had showed them wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, the Red sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.


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"This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, «A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you from your brethren like me; you must listen to him.»


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"This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel, who spoke to him at mount Sinai and our fathers; he received the living words to give to us.


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"To whom our fathers would not obey but pushed him away from them and in their hearts turned back to Egypt


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telling Aaron, «Make us gods to go before us, as for this Moses who brought us our of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.»


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"They made a calf at that time and offered sacrifices to this idol and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.


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"So God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven just like it is written in the book of the prophets, «O house of Israel, have you offered to me killed animals and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?


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Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god, Remphan, objects which you made to worship, so I will carry you away beyond Babylon.»


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"Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, just as he had told him to, telling Moses that he should make it just like the one he had seen.


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"Our fathers, which came afterward, were brought by Joshua into the possession of the gentiles whom God drove out before the presence of our fathers up to the days of David,


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«Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool, so what kind of house will you build for me,» says the Lord, «or where is the place for me to rest?


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"You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears; you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.


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"Which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute? They have killed those who told about the coming of the Just One, whom you have now betrayed and killed.


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After they heard these things, they were enraged deeply into their hearts and gnashed their teeth at him.


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But he, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.


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They threw him out of the city and stoned him; the witnesses laid down their garments at a young man named Saul.


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He fell down and shouted with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." After saying that he fell asleep.


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Saul was in full agreement for his death. At that time great persecution arose against the church which is at Jerusalem, and they were scattered about throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except for the apostles.


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But as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and hauling off men and women and put them in prison.


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and the people in agreement listened to those things which Philip spoke about and heard and saw the miracles which he did.


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Unclean spirits shouting with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed, and many sick with paralysis and lame were healed,


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Now a certain man named Simon was there, who formerly in that same city practiced sorcery amazing the people of Samaria and boasting that he was some great man.


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They all gave high regard to him from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God."


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but when they believed Philip preaching things about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.


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Then Simon himself also believed, and after he was baptized, he continuing with Philip was astonished seeing the miracles and signs which were being done.


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Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.


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When Simon saw that after laying the Apostles hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,


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saying, "Give this power to me, too, so that on whomever I lay hands, he will receive the Holy Spirit."


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But Peter said to him, "May your money perish along with you, because you thought that the God's gift could be bought with money.


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Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and pray to God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven,


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Then Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me, that none of these things which you have spoken about come upon me."


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After testifying and preaching the Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel in many of the Samaritan villages.


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Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Get up and go southward to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert."


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So he got up and left. Now behold a man from Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had responsibility for her whole treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship


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Philip ran to it and heard him read from the Prophet Isaiah and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"


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The place in the Scripture where he was reading was this, "He was lead like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is quiet before his shearer, so he didn't open his mouth.


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In his humiliation, his justice was taken away and who will tell his generation, for his life is taken from the earth."


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The eunuch asked Philip and said, "Please tell me who is the prophet talking about--himself or some other man?"


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As they went on their way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, water [is here]; what stops me from being baptized?"


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Philip answered, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." Then he replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."


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He ordered the chariot to stop, and they went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he was baptized by him.


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After they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away, so that the eunuch never saw him again, and he went on his way rejoicing.


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But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through he preached in all the cities until he came to Caesarea.


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Then Saul, still breathing out threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,


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and wanted letters from him to the Damascus' synagogues, so that if he found any of this way, whether men or women, he might bring them tied up to Jerusalem.


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He replied, "Who are you Lord?" The Lord said, "I am Jesus whom you persecute. Is it hard for you to be obstinately disobedient against the goad?"


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He trembling and stunned said, "Lord, What do you want me to do?" The Lord [said] to him, "Stand up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."


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So Saul got up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he saw no one, so they led him by the hand and brought [him] into Damascus.


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There was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision ,"Ananias." "Behold, here I am Lord."


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The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street named «Straight» to the house of Judas and ask for one named Saul of Tarsus, for look he is praying,


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and he has seen in vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight."


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Ananias then answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your holy people at Jerusalem,


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But the Lord said to him, "Go your way, for he is a chosen vessel for me to bring my name to the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel,


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So Ananias went on his way and entered the house, then putting his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here, has sent me so that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."


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Immediately something fell from his eyes as if it had been scales, and he received sight, got up, and was baptized.


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After he had taken some food, he was strengthened, then Saul stayed for awhile with the disciples which were at Damascus.


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but all who heard [him] were amazed and said, "Isn't this he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem and came here for the purpose that he might bring them tied up to the chief priests?"


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But Saul increased more in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus proving that this is the very Christ.


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but their laying in ambush became known by Saul. They watched the gates closely day and night so to kill him.


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When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and didn't believe that he was a disciple,


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but Barnabas took him and brought [him] to the Apostles and told them how he had seen the Lord on the road, that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.


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He spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and reasonably discussed with the Greeks, but they all went about to kill him.


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Then the congregations had rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. They were built up walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and growing.


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Then it happened as Peter passed throughout all areas, he came down also to God's holy people which lived in Lydda,


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Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you well; get up and make your bed." So he got up immediately.


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Now there was a Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which interpreted is called Dorcas. This woman was overflowing with good works and compassionate deeds which she did.


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Then it happened in time that she became sick and died, and after they had washed [her body], they laid her in an upper room.


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Since Lydda was near Joppa and that the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men for him asking if he would not delay to come with them.


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Then Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats and clothes that Dorcas made while she was with them.


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Peter sent them all out, kneeled down, prayed, and turning to the body said, "Tabitha, get up," and she opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up.


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He offered her his hand, helped her up, and when he had called God's people and widows, presented her alive.


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who was devout and feared God along with his whole family who, also, gave much alms to the people and always prayed to God.


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He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour [about 3 PM] of the day an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, "Cornelius."


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When he looked at him, he was afraid and said, "What is it, Lord?" He [the angel] said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have gone up for a memorial before God.


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He is staying with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea side; he will tell you what you need to do."


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After the angel who spoke to Cornelius left, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who continually attended him,


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On the next day, as they were on their journey and were getting close to the city, Peter went up to the housetop to pray, [it was] about the sixth hour [noon].


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and saw heaven open, then a some kind of container coming down to him, like a great sheet tied at all four corners; [it was] let down to the earth.


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In it were all kinds of four footed animals of the earth as well as wild animals, creeping things, and birds of the air.


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Now Peter was in a quandary what this vision that he had seen would mean, behold, the men who were sent from Cornelius had been asking for Simon's house and stood in front of the gate


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While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Look, three men are looking for you.


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Get up therefore and go down there and go with them. Do not withdraw in any way, for I have sent them."


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So Peter went down to the men who were sent for him from Cornelius and said, "Look, I am the one whom you are looking for. What is the reason therefore you have come?"


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They said, "Cornelius, the centurion, a just man, one who fears God, and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews was warned from God by a holy angel to sent for you [to come] to his house and hear your message.


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Then he invited them in and hosted them. The next day Peter went away with them along with certain brothers from Joppa who accompanied him.


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On the day after that, they entered Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them having invited his relatives and close friends.


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He said to them, "You know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to keep company or to come into one of another nationality, but God has showed me that I should not call any one common or unclean.


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Therefore, I came without disputing as soon as I was sent for. Therefore, I ask, for what reason have you sent for me?"


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Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour [3 PM] I was praying in my house and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing,


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Therefore send to Joppa and call Simon, who surname is Peter, here. He is staying in the house of Simon, a tanner by the sea side, who when he comes will talk to you.


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Immediately therefore I sent for you, and you have done well that you have come. Now therefore we are all here before God to hear everything that is commanded you from God."


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The word which [God] sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all--


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that word, you know, which was introduced throughout all Judea and began at Galilee after the baptism that John preached.


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How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He traveled around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.


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We are witnesses of everything that he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, who killed and hung on a tree.


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not to all the people but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.


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He ordered us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.


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All the prophets testify that through His name whosoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins."


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While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all of those who heard the word.


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because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles, Act 10:47 for they heard them speak with languages and magnify God. Then Peter answered,


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"Is there any one who would forbid water that these shouldn't be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just like we [did].


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He directed them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then they asked him to stay there for a few days.


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The Apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God.


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But Peter recounted everything from the beginning and explained in an orderly sequence to them, saying,


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"I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance I saw a vision. A certain kind of container came down as if it were a great sheet, let down from heaven by the four corners, and it came down to me.


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On it I looked closely and saw four footed animals of the earth and wild animals, creeping things, and birds of the air.


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"Then immediately there were three men who had already come into the house where I was [who had been] sent from Caesarea to me.


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"The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house.


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"He described for us how he had seen an angel in his house who stood and said to him, «Send men to Joppa and ask for Simon whose surname is Peter.


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"Then I remembered the word of the Lord; when he said, "John truly baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.


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"If then God gave them the same gift as [he did] to us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could forbid God?"


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When they heard these things, they were quiet and glorified God saying, "Then God has also granted repentance into life to the Gentiles."


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Now those who were scattered around because of the persecution that started with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch preaching The Word to none except the Jews only,


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but there some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene who after coming to Antioch also preached the Lord Jesus to the Greeks.


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Then the news about these things came to the hearing of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.


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When he came and saw the grace of God, he was happy and encouraged them all that with dedicated intent they should stick closely to the Lord.


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For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a large number of people were added to the Lord.


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and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and so it was that they gathered together for a whole year with the church and taught many people. Here in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.


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and one of them named Agabus stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there would be a great famine through out the whole world, which happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.


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Then the disciples, every person, according to his financial state determined to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea.


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When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he went ahead and took Peter also--those were the days of unleavened bread.


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After arresting him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four quaternions of soldiers [16 soldiers] to guard him, intending after Passover to bring him out to the people.


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When Herod would have brought him out, that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, fastened by two chains, and the guards in front of the door guarding the prison.


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Then, look, the angel of the Lord came to him and a light shown in the prison, and he tapped Peter on his side and got him up, saying, "Get up quickly," then his chains fell off his hands.


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Then the angel said to him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals," and so he did. Then he said to him, "Throw your cloak around you and follow me."


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So he went out and followed him, but he didn't know that what was done by the angel was real, but he thought he saw a vision.


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After they were beyond the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city. This opened for them all by itself, and they went through it to one street, and then the angel left him.


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When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now, I truly know that the Lord has sent his angel and delivered me out of Herod's hand and all the evil hopes of the Jewish people."


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After thinking about this, he came to Mary's (the mother of John whose last name was Mark) house. Many people were there praying.


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When she recognized Peter's voice, she didn't open the gate because of joy but ran in and told how Peter was standing in front of the gate.


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They said to her, "You're crazy," but she insisted that it was as [she said it was]. Then they said, "It is his angel."


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But he motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and told them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. He then said, "Go tell these things to James and the brethren," then he left for another place.


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Now as soon as it was daylight, there was no small turmoil among the soldiers of what had happened to Peter.


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After Herod had looked for him and didn't find him, he examined the guards and commanded they should die, then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.


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Now Herod was very displeased with the people of Tyre and Sidon, so they came together to him and having made Blastus, the King's chief of his bedroom their friend; they wanted peace, because their country was supplied by the King.


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Herod, on a scheduled day, was dressed in royal gowns and sitting on his throne made a speech to them.


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Immediately the angel of the Lord fatally struck him, because he didn't give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died.


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Then Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem after they had completely fulfilled their ministry and took with them John whose last name was Mark.


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Now in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas, Simeon (called Niger), Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been raised with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.


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As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate for me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them [to do]."


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So since they were sent out by the Holy Spirit, they left for Seleucia and then sailed to Cyprus from there.


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When they were at Salamis, they preached the Word of God in the Jewish synagogues, and they also had John for their assistant.


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After going through the island of Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus,


text:
who was with Sergius Paulus, a prudent man, the proconsul, who invited Barnabas and Saul having desired to hear the Word of God,


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but Elymas, the sorcerer (that's what his translated name means) resisted us trying to turn the proconsul away from the faith.


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and said, "O you who is full of deceit and evil intent, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, won't you not stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?


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"Now, see, the Lord's hand is on you, and you will be blind, not even seeing the sun for awhile." Immediately something like a mist of darkness fell on him, and he walked around seeking for someone to lead him by the hand.


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After sailing away from Paphos, Paul and those with him came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.


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After parting ways the rest left Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue on a certain Sabbath day and sat down.


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After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent for them saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, go ahead and speak."


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Then Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said, "Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen closely.


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"The God of this people Israel chose our forefathers and exalted the people when they were living as foreigners in the land of Egypt, and with superior strength he brought them out of there.


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"After this they wanted a king, so God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for about forty years.


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"After removing him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified and said, "I have found David, the son of Jesse, [to be] a man who wants to do what I want him to do [literally: after my own heart], who will fulfill my will completely.


text:
"When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel


text:
and John fulfilled his mission, he said, «Who do you think I am? I am not he, but, look, there is one coming after me whose sandals of his feet, I am not worthy to loosen.'


text:
"Men and brethren, the children of the stock of Abraham, and also whosoever among you fears God, to you this word of Salvation is sent,


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for those who live in Jerusalem along with their rulers--because they did not know him nor the messages of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath--fulfilled [them] by condemning [him].


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"And though they did not find any reason for him to die, they still asked Pilate to have him killed.


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"After fulfilling all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb, [30] but God raised him from the dead.


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"He was seen for many days by those who had come up with from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are [now] his witnesses to the people.


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God has now fulfilled it to us their children in that he has raised up Jesus again, just as it is also written in the second Psalm, «You are my Son, this day I have begotten you.»


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"Now considering that he raised him up from the dead, to never more return to corruption, he said it in this way, «I will give you the sure mercies of David.


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because David, after serving his own generation by God's will fell asleep [died], was laid with his forefathers, and did experience decay,


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"Let it be known to you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.


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"Through him all who believed are justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses.


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«Look you despisers, be amazed and die, for I work a work in your time, a work which you will never believe even though a man tells it to you.''


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After the Jews had left the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that this message might be preached to them the next Sabbath.


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So after the congregation was dispensed, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them convincing them to continue in the grace of God.


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When the Jews saws the large crowds, they were filled with envy and started speaking against--contradicting and blaspheming--those things which Paul had talked about.


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Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first, but seeing that you reject it, condemning yourselves to be unworthy of everlasting life, we now turn to the Gentiles,


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because the Lord has commanded us, "I have set you to be a light to the Gentiles, that you should be [bring] salvation to the ends of the earth."


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When the Gentiles heard this, they were happy and glorified the Word of the Lord and as many as were appointed for eternal life believed.


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but after the Jews incited the high ranking and honorable women and the chief men of the city, started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their area.


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Soon after in Iconium, they both went together into the Jew's synagogue and spake the same thing, so that a large group of both Jews and Greeks believed.


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But the unbelieving Jews incited the Gentiles and made their minds to be very angry against the brethren.


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So for a long time they stayed there speaking boldly about the Lord, who evidenced the word of his grace and allowed signs and wonders to be done by their hands.


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So when both the Gentiles and Jews together with their leaders lashed out to abuse and to stone them,


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At Lystra there was a certain man, crippled from his mother's womb, who had no strength in his feet and who had never walked.


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After the people saw what Paul had done, they shouted with their voices saying in the Lycaonia language, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men."


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Then the priest of Zeus (whose [temple] was in front of the city) brought oxen and religious wreathes to the gates and would have sacrificed along with the people.


text:
 When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran among the people, shouting,


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"Sirs, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same human nature as you. We preach to you that you should turn from these empty idols and [turn] to the living God who made heaven, earth, sea, and everything in them. Act 14:16 In former times he left all nations alone to live in their own ways.


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"Nevertheless, he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and bountiful harvests filling our hearts with food and joy."


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Even after saying these things, they scarcely were able to restrain the people, so that they wouldn't sacrifice to them.


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Then some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came and persuaded the crowd, and after stoning Paul, dragged him out of the city thinking that he was dead.


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However, as the disciples stood around him, he got up and came into the city, and left the next day with Barnabas to [go to] Derbe.


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After preaching the gospel to that city and having taught many, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch


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strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith and that we must through much hardships enter the Kingdom of God.


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After they had chosen elders in every church and after praying with fasting, they committed them to the Lord on whom they had believed.


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When they had preached in the Word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, Act 14:26 and from there sailed to Antioch from where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work, which they fulfilled.


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After they had come and the church was gathered together, they reported everything that God had done through them, and how he had opened the door of faith for the Gentiles.


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Certain men came down from Judea teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."


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Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small disagreement and strong debate with them, they decided that Paul, Barnabas, and certain others should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and elders about this question.


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While being sent on the way by the church, they went through Phoenicia and Samaria telling about the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy in all the brethren.


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When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed in by the church and by the Apostles and elders, and they told them everything that God had done through them.


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Then certain of the Pharisees group, who believed, got up saying that it was necessary to circumcise them and command them to obey the Law of Moses.


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After much debate, Peter got up and said to them, "Men and brethren, you know how for a long time God made a choice among us that the Gentiles from my mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel and believe.


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"So then why do you tempt God to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our forefathers nor us were able to bear?


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Then all the multitude was quiet and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told the miracles and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.


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"Simeon has explained how God at first went to see the Gentiles to take from among them a people for his name.


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«After this I will return and rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up,


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so that the remainder of people may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles on whom my name is called,' says the Lord, who does all these things.»


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"Therefore my decision is that we are not to trouble them who from among the Gentiles have turned to God.


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"We need to write to them that they stay away from the pollutions of idols, from fornication, from strangled [choked, not bled], and from [eating] blood.


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For Moses from long ago has those who in every city preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day."


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So it pleased the Apostles and elders as well as the whole church to send chosen men from their group to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas--Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren.


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They wrote to them in this way: The Apostles, elders, and brothers. Greetings to the brethren who are Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.


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When we heard that certain went out from us troubled you with a message, upsetting your souls, telling you that you must be circumcised and obey the Law. We gave no such command to them.


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It seemed good to us, gathered together in agreement, to send chosen men to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.


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For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us to place on you no greater burden than these necessary things:


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that you avoid foods that have been offered to idols, from [eating] blood, from meats [killed by] strangling, and fornication. If you keep away from things, you will do well. Goodbye.


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So after being dismissed, they came to Antioch. After gathering the group together, they handed them the letter.


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Judas and Silas, who were prophets, too, encouraged the brothers with many words and supported them.


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Paul and Barnabas also strayed in Antioch teaching and preaching the Word of the Lord along with many others, too.


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After some time Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the Word of the Lord and see they are doing."


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but Paul thought it wasn't good to take him with them, since he deserted them from Pamphylia and didn't go with them to the work.


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The disagreement was so sharp between them, they parted ways. So Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus.


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Then he came to Derbe and Lystra, and look, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman, who believed, but his father [was] a Greek.


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Paul wanted him to go out with him, so he took him and circumcised him, because of the Jews who lived in that area, for all knew that his father was Greek.


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As they traveled through the cities, they handed over the decisions to obey which we decided on by the Apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.


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Now after they had went throughout Phrygia and the area around Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia.


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Paul had a vision there at night. A man from Macedonia stood there and plead with him, saying, "Come over here to Macedonia and help us."


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After he had seen the vision, he immediately sought to go into Macedonia concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.


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From there to Philippi which is the foremost city in that area of Macedonia and a Roman colony. While we were staying in that city for a number of days,


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on the Sabbath we went out of the city to the river side, where prayer was often made, and sat down to talk to the women who came there.


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Then a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira and who worshipped God, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart, so that she paid attention to the things Paul was talking about.


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After she was baptized, along with her household, she asked us, saying, "If you have considered me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay there." She really urged us.


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Later as we went to prayer a certain slave woman, who was possessed with a spirit of divination, met us, who brought her masters a lot of profit by soothsaying.


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This slave woman followed Paul and us and shouted saying, "These men are the servants of the most high God, who shows us the was of salvation."


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She did this for many days, but Paul, being displeased, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her," and he came out that very hour.


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When her masters saw that their chance for profit was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the local rulers


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Then the crowd rose up together against them, and the local rulers tore away their clothes and commanded to beat [them].


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After inflicting many lashes on them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to guard them safely.


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After receiving these orders, he shoved them into the inner prison room and made sure their feet were secured in the stocks.


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Suddenly there was a large earthquake, so that even the prison foundation was shaken, and instantly all the [jail cell] doors opened and every one's shackles became loose.


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The jail keeper was awakened from his sleep, and when he saw the jail cell doors open, he drew out his sword. He would have killed himself since he though the prisoners had escaped,


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That very hour of the night he took them and washed their lash wounds, and he and all his were baptized right then.


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After bringing them into his house, he put food in front of them and rejoiced, believing in God as well as all his household.


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The jail keeper told this to Paul, "The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore now leave and go in peace."


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Paul, however, said to them, "They have openly beat us, Romans, [even though we are] without a trial and have thrown us into prison. Now they drive us out privately; no way, let them come themselves and lead us out."


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The police told these words to the magistrates who were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.


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They went out of the prison and entered Lydia's house. After seeing the brethren, they comforted them and left.


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Now after they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue.


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Then Paul, as was his habit, went in to them and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures,


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explaining and proving that Christ must have had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach to you is Christ.


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Some of them believed and joined Paul and Silas. There was also a large group of devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.


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But the Jews who didn't believed, motivated by jealousy, took certain thugs, rallied a crowd, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason's house and tired to bring them out to the people.


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When they didn't find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren to the rulers of the city, shouting, "These who have been causing trouble everywhere are now here also.


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"Jason has welcomed them. These do everything opposite to Caesar's laws, claiming that there is another king, Jesus."


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The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away at night to Berea. When they got there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.


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These were more noble that those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word with a willingness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily.


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Now when the Thessalonian Jews knew that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there too, and agitated up the people.


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Immediately the brethren sent Paul away as if he were going by sea, but Silas and Timothy still stayed there.


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Those who went with Paul brought him to Athens, and after Silas and Timothy received a command to come to him as fast as possible; they left.


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Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was worked up in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.


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Therefore he discussed with the Jews in the synagogue, with the devout converts, and in the market daily with those who met with him.


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Then some of the philosophers, the Epicureans and Stoics, came across him, and some said, "What will this hick talk about?" Others [said], "He seemed to promoting strange gods," because he preached Jesus to them and the resurrection.


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So they took him and brought him to Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you talk about?


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For all Athenians and strangers who were there spent their time in nothing else except either to tell or hear something new.


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Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in everything you are too religious,


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for as I passed by and saw your religious things, I found an altar with this written on it--TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom you ignorantly worship, I will tell you about him plainly.


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"God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and doesn't live in temples made by human hands.


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"Neither is served with people's hands as if he needed anything, for he gives life, breath, and everything to all.


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"He has all nations of people from one blood to dwell on the whole face of the earth and has determined the times and appointed the boundaries of their dwelling places,


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so that they should seek the Lord, hoping that might search for him and find him though he is not far from anyone of us.


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"For because of him we can live and move and exist, as a certain one of your poets have said, «We too are his offspring,»


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so then, since we are the offspring of God, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is something like gold, silver, or stone graven in art by man's skill.


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because he has appointed a time when he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has appointed. He has given proof to all in that he has raised him from the dead."


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When they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some mocked, but others said, "We will listen to you about this later."


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Nevertheless certain men joined him and believed, among them was Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris.


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and found a certain Jew name Aquila born in Pontus, who recently came from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,


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because he had the same occupation as they, he stayed and worked with them, for they were tent makers.


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After Silas and Timothy had arrived from Macedonia, Paul was engrossed in [his] spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Messiah.


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When they resisted together and blasphemed, he shook his clothes and said to them, "May your blood be on your own heads; I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles."


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So he left there and entered a certain man's house. His name was Justus, and he worshipped God. His house abutted the synagogue.


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Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized.


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Then the Lord told Paul at night in a vision, "Don't be afraid, but go on speaking, and don't be silent,


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But when Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia, the Jews unanimously attacked Paul and brought him to the judgment seat,


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When Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were due to doing something wrong or wicked crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable that I should put up with you,


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but if it is about a question about words, names, or from your law, deal with it yourselves, for I will not be a judge of such things."


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Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue and beat him up in front of the judgment seat, but Gallio didn't pay attention to any of it.


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Paul stay there for quit a while, then left the brethren and sailed from there to Syria along with Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his head shaved, for he had made a vow.


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Then he came to Ephesus and left them there, but he went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.


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Instead he said goodbye to them, saying, "I have to in any way possible keep the feast that is coming up in Jerusalem, but I will return to you if God wills." Then he sailed away from Ephesus.


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When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to the congregation and greeted them then went down to Antioch.


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After sending some time there, he left and went around the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order to strengthen all the disciples.


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Now a certain Jew, named Apollos, who was born in Alexandria, an eloquent man and knowledgeable about the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.


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This man was instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit spoke and diligently taught the things of the Lord, but only knowing about John's baptism.


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He started speaking boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla had heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more perfectly.


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Then when he wanted to travel over to Achaia, the brethren wrote encouraging the disciples to welcome him. When he had come to them, he helped them a lot who had believed through grace.


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Then while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul had passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus finding some disciples.


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He said to them, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" They said, "We haven't even heard that there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit."


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Paul then told them "John truly baptized with the Baptism of Repentance telling the people that they should believe in him who should come after him, that is, Jesus Christ."


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When Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with different languages and prophesied.


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Then he went into the synagogue and boldly spoke for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the things concerning the Kingdom of God.


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But when some grew stubborn and wouldn't believe, and starting speaking evil about The Way to the crowd, he left them and withdrew with the disciples continuing his arguments in the school of Tyrannus.


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This continued for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the message about the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.


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Even handkerchiefs and work aprons that had touched his body caused diseases to leave them and evil spirits to go out of them.


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Then certain itinerant Jewish exorcists took upon themselves to use the name of the Lord Jesus over people who had evil spirits saying, "We command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."


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Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped, overcame, and overpowered them, so that they bolted out of that house naked and wounded.


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This was known to all the Jews and Greeks living at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great honor.


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Also many who practiced these magic rituals brought their books together and burned them in full view of all. They added up the price of these [books] and found it was 50,000 pieces of silver.


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After these things finished, Paul resolved in the Spirit that when he would travel through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. He said, "After I have been there, I also must visit Rome."


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So he sent two of those who helped him, Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, but he stayed in Asia for a while.


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for a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing no small profit for the craftsmen.


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He called those of the same trade together and said, "Men, you know that by our trade we have our wealth.


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"You also can see and hear that at not only Ephesus but almost everywhere in Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a lot of people telling them that these are not gods which are made with hands.


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"So not only is our trade in danger to be nothing but also the temple of the great god Artemis will be despised and her magnificence will be destroyed, she whom all Asia, even the world, worships."


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When they heard those things they were extremely angry and shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians."


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So the whole city was filled with confusion and after grabbing Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians and Paul's traveling companions, they rushed into the theater.


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Certain ones among the Asiarchs [a type of high ranking officer in the Asian province] who were his friends sent to him that he wouldn't show himself in the theater.


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Therefore some were shouting one thing and some another, for the crowd was confused and the majority didn't even know why they had come together.


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Then they forced Alexander out of the crowd--the Jews pushing him to the front. Alexander motioned with his hand and wanted to make a defense before the public assembly.


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But when they found out that he was a Jew, all of them with one voice for about 2 hours, shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians."


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Finally the town clerk quieted the people, then he said, "Men of Ephesus, where is the man who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is the custodian of the great goddess Artemis and the image which fell down from the sky.


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"For you have brought these men here who are neither guilty of sacrilege or blasphemers of your goddess.


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"Therefore if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have any complaint against any one, the courts are open and there are proconsuls were they can bring charges.


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"For we are in danger of being questioned about today's riot, for there is no answer that we can give to account for this mass gathering."


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After the uproar had stopped, Paul called the disciples, embraced them, and left to go to Macedonia.


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He stayed there for three months. When the Jews plotted against him as he was ready to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.


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Sopater from Berea, from the Thessalonians were Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and from Asia Tychicus and Trophimus all went with him into Asia.


text:
We sailed away from Philippi in the Days of Unleavened Bread and came to them at Troas in five days and stayed there for seven days.


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On the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them. He was ready to leave on the next day and so continued his message until midnight.


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and a certain young man named Eutychus sat in the window was going into a deep sleep as Paul was preaching for a long time. [Eutychus] finally being overcome by sleep, fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.


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Paul then went down, bent over, and taking him in his arms said, "Don't be troubled, for his life in still in him."


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We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos with the intent of taking Paul [on board], for he had planned on walking there.


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We sailed from there coming the next day to be opposite Chios. Then on the following day we arrived at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium. The next day we came to Miletus.


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For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, because he wouldn't have the time to spend in Asia, since he was in a hurry if were possible for him to be at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.


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When they had come to him, he said to them, "You know from the first day that I came into Asia the way I was with you at all times.


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"Serving the Lord with complete humility, many tears, and temptations which happened to me by the plots of the Jews.


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"I never held anything back that which was best for you, having showed you and taught you publicly and from house to house,


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testifying both to the Jews and Greeks the repentance which is due to God and faith which is due to our Lord Jesus Christ.


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except that the Holy Spirit bears witness in every city saying that shackles and persecution are waiting for me.


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"But none of these things bother me, not do I consider my life precious to me, so that I can finish my life's race with joy, and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to bear witness for the gospel of God's grace.


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"Now I know that all of you whom I have been going around and preaching the Kingdom of God to will not see my face anymore.


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"Take heed therefore for yourselves and to the whole flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the congregation of God which he has purchased with his own blood.


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"Also from your own selves, men will rise up, speaking perversions to draw away the disciples after them.


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"Therefore pay close attention and remember that over the space of three years, I didn't stop warning every one day and night with tears.


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"And now brethren, I surrender you to the safekeeping of God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified.


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"You yourselves know that these hands have served for my necessary things and for those who were with me.


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"I have showed you everything, so that by working you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus when he said, «It is more blessed to give, than to receive.»


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being very sad most of all for the words which he said that they wouldn't see his face anymore. Then they accompanied him to the ship.


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And so it happened that after we had torn ourselves from them, we set sail. We came with a straight run to Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.


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Now after spotting Cyprus, we left on the left side, sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre, because the ship had to unload her cargo.


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Finding disciples there, we stayed for seven days. They said to Paul by the Spirit that he was not to go up to Jerusalem.


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After we had finished our time there, we left and went on our journey. All of them with wives and children accompanied us on our journey until we were out of the city, then we kneeled down on the shore and prayed.


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After we had finished this journey from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed there with them for one day.


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The next day those of us who were with Paul left and went to Caesarea and entered the house of Philip, the evangelist, who was one of the seven [deacons] and stayed with him.


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After coming to us, he took Paul's belt and tied up his own hands and feet, then he said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit «In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.»


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Then Paul answered, "Why do to cry so and break my heart? For I am read to not only be tied up but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."


text:
Certain disciples of Caesarea went with us, and they brought with them Mnason from Cyprus, an old disciple with whom we were going to stay.


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After greeting them, he told them in detail all the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.


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After hearing this, they praised the Lord and said to him, "Do you see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who believe, and all are zealous for the Law.


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"They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews among the Gentiles to forsake Moses telling them that they don't need to circumcise their children not have to live by the customs.


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"Take them, purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads, then all will know that the things of which they heard about you are nothing, and that you, yourself, also live orderly and obey the Law.


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"Concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and came to the conclusion that they don't have to observe these things, except that they must keep themselves from [things] offered to idols, from [eating] blood, from [eating] things [killed] by strangling, and from fornication."


text:
So Paul took the men. The next day after purifying himself with them, he entered the temple to give notice when the days of purification would be completed, that is, the time that an offering needs to be made for each one of them.


text:
When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, after seeing him in the Temple, stirred up all of the people and grabbed him with their hands, Act 21:28 shouting, "Men of Israel help [us]. This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against the people, the Law, and this place, and if that isn't enough, he has brought Greeks into the Temple and has polluted this holy place."


text:
Earlier they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the Temple.


text:
This stirred up the whole city, and all the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the Temple and immediately the doors were shut.


text:
They were wanting to kill him, but news came to the chief captain that all of Jerusalem was in a confused uproar.


text:
He immediately took solders and centurions and ran down to them. When the spotted the chief captain and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul.


text:
Then the chief captain came close, took him, and commanded him to be tied up with two chains. Then he demanded who he was, and what he had done.


text:
Some of the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. When he couldn't know for sure what the commotion was about, he commanded for him to be carried into the barracks.


text:
After he had come to the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,


text:
As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the chief captain, "May I speak to you?" [The chief captain] said, "Can you speak Greek?


text:
"Aren't you the Egyptian who recently stirred up a rebellion and led four thousand assassins into the wilderness?"


text:
Paul replied, "I am a Jewish man from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen from no unknown city, and I plead with you to allow me to speak to the people."


text:
After giving him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. When everything was quiet, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,


text:
When they heard him speaking to them in the Hebrew language, they grew even more quiet, then he said,


text:
"I am truly a Jewish man born in Tarsus in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the exact teachings of the Law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God as all of you are today.


